Among the Selkirk Glaciers

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iiiiyfiiAi '^m^^^^

AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS

" Tlie swelling slopes of forest, the Line ice of the glaciers, and the tlaik purple precipices of Mount Bonney." AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS

THE ACCOUNT OF A ROUGH SURVEY IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

WILLIAM SPOTSWOOD GREEN, M.A., F.K.G.S., A.C. ALTHOR OF 'THE HRiH ALPS OF XEW ZEALAND

MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1890

The rjght of Translation and IU;irodtiction is Reseritd Richard Clay axd Sons, Limited LOSEON AKD BUSGAY. 5 DeDicate tbis JBook

MY MOTHER.

PHEEACE.

The Paper I read last winter before the Royal

Geographical Society on our explorations in the Sel- kirks being necessarily limited as to detail, I thought it might prove interesting to some to have a fuller account. I have therefore in the following pages attempted, while describing our wanderings and scrambles, to give as complete a picture as possible of the most striking phenomena of the region we visited. Our map, now reproduced, was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society for March, 1889, and it has been to me no small gratification to receive letters from travellers in Canada, the United States, and at home, men not previously known to me, saying that they found it useful, and that it helped them to enjoy the scenery of the Selkirks during the past summer.

Though all the time at our disposal was devoted to rendering our map as accurate as possible, more careful surveys will find many corrections necessary in detail. X PEEFACE.

With regard to the comparatively small area surveyed, I can only plead limited time, and the difficult nature of the country. Without desiring to make over-much of these difficulties, I think I may, in fair- ness to ourselves, quote the words of one whose long years of exploration in the Selkirk region, and whose experience in other lands, give him a right to speak with some authority.

Mr. Baillie-Groman, in his article in the Field of

May 11th, 1889, entitled, " Seven Years Path-finding in the Selkirks of Kootenay," says, " The least said about 'paths in these amazingly inaccessible upland mountain wilds the better, for I doubt whether any other known mountain system of the same not very excessive altitude offers, on the one hand so many attractions, and on the other hand, so many difficulties

to impede their exploration as do the Selkirks ; but that is to the genuine explorer only an additional charm." Again, commentinsr on the limited area we were able to survey, " However, it must be said that

Mr. Green tackled that part of the Selkirks which he explored from the very hardest and most un- promising point of attack." I regret that my meeting with Mr. Baillie-Groman on the Columbia lake did not take place before my work was finished; however my object was more to throw light on the mountain fastnesses in proximity to the railway than to attempt a general survey of the range. ;

PREFACE. xi

Of the illustrations, three, viz., the Frontispiece, the Snow Sheds, and the demolished Forest, are froni photographs by my companion, the Rev. H. Swanzy. The others are from my own sketches.

In conclusion, I must take this opportunity to thank

Sir W. C. Van Home, and his Secretary, Mr. A. Piers,

for their kind help when we were in Canada ; Major

Deville and Professor Macoun, of Ottawa, for their

practical advice ; Professor Bonney, since our return, for examining the rock specimens I brought home the Council of the Royal Geographical Society for their material aid, and many others, too numerous to mention here, who " lent us a hand " when it Avas most needed.

W. S. G.

Carrigaline,

Christmaa, 18S9.

—

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. TAC.F. Introductory. —T]ie idea suggested. —My companion. — Prepara- tions 1

CHAPTER II.

The City of Rome. —New York. —The Hudson. —Lake George. Ottawa

CHAPTER III. — The Backwoods. "Winnipeg. —The Prairie. —ilementoes of the buffalo. — Prairie Indians.— Calgary. — First view of the Rockies 23

CHAPTER IV.

Descriptive. —Geology. —Forests. — Animals. —Early explorers . 37

CHAPTER Y.

Leave Calgary. —Ascend the Rockies. —Steep descent. —Cross the Columbia. —In the Selkirks. The trestle-bridges and snow-

sheds. —The great Illecellewaet glacier . . 53 xiv CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI. PAOK Oiir map. —First climbs. —Packing. —View from arete of Mount Sir Donald 71

CHAPTER VII.

The railway gangs. —The pack-horse again. —Sledging. —The

valley beyond the snow-field. — Camped on Perley Rock . . 91

CHAPTER VIII.

We start for Vancouver. — The gorge of the Frazer. —The salmon canneries. —Back to the Mountains Ill

CHAPTER IX.

Pioneering the Asulkan pass. —Rocky Mountain goats.—Tiie Dawson range. —Reconnaisance of the Loop Valley .... 123

CHAPTER X.

Start for camp in Loop Valley. —The Glaciers of j\Iount Bonney. Ascend the Lily glacier 132

CHAPTER XI.

An early start. —A steep couloir. —A viauvais pas. —The summit

of Mount Bonney.—Sunset. —Benighted in the forest . . . 148

CHAPTER XII.

Fetch camp from Loop Valley. —A Breakfost party. — Illecelle- waet. —A miner's camp 164

CHAPTER XIII.

Start with horse for Beaver Creek. —Camp on the Tote Road.— Ford Bear Creek. —Impenetrable forest 175 —A

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV. PAGE Excursion up Mount Macdonald. — Recross Bear Creek. —DiflB- culties of the Tote Road 190

CHAPTER XV.

Start for Asulkan Pass. —Roast Pork. —Mountain goats. — narrow bivouac. —Reach the Geikie and Dawson glaciers. Thunder and lightning. —A morning visitor 201

CHAPTER XVI.

Last ascent in Selkirks. —Golden City. —Up the Columbia. Lake Windermere. —Across the Rockies 218

CHAPTER XVII.

Silver City. —Astray in the forest. —Lake Louise. —Moimt Lefroy. —Swamped in the Bow river. —Once more on the

prairie 2-35 LIST OF ILLUSTUATIOXS.

"The swelling slopes of forest, the blue ice of the

glaciers, and the dark purple precipices of Mount Bonney Frontispiece.

" Xew views of strange castellated crags opened as I progressed" To face page 38

" A series of snow-sheds" ,, ,, 60

" The forest we found utterly demolished by a recent

avalanche" ,, ,, 63

" " At last the highest crest was in sight ,, ,, 156

" H. hauled cautiously but firmly on the rope " . . ,, ,, 160

" " Taking the rifle he descended to the snow-slope . ,, ,, 206

" A full-si2ed mountain goat inspecting us " Page 214

" A little wharf called ' Sam's Landing ' " To face page 2Z2

"At the head of the lake, the great precipice of

Mount Lefroy" ,, ,, 244

MAP.

Part of the Selkirk Range, British Colvmbia . At cm of Book. AMONG THE SELKIKK GLACIERS.

CHAPTER I.

" The food of hope

Is meditated action ; robbed of this Her sole support, she languishes and dies.

We perish also ; for we live by hope

And by desire ; we see by the glad light And breathe the sweet air of futurity ; And so we live, or else we haA'e no life." AVORD.SWOKTH.

Introductory. —The idea suggested. —My companion. —Preparations.

When the British Association met in Canada in 1884, one of the most interesting excursions planned

for the members was that provided by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company on the portion of their line

then completed ; to the summit of the Hector pass, or

as it was then called, the Kicking Horse pass, in tlie Rocky Mountains, Amongst the members of that excursion were two gentlemen, Mr. Richard M. Bamngton, and my cousin, the Rev. Henry Swanzy, who, not

satisfied with the interesting scenes revealed to them

H 1 2 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. by the completed portion of the railway, determined to continue the journey to the shores of the Pacific, with the aid of pack-horses. After separating from the excursion party on

Hector pass, they experienced very considerable difficulties. The temporary track for construction trains was available only as far as the Ottertail bridge on the western slope of the Rockies. From this point they had to depend entirely on their horses. Having been ferried across the Columbia river, they followed a most imperfect trail, up the valley of Beaver Creek, into the

Selkirks and so reached Rogers pass. Often missing the trail, they were compelled to make the best of their Avay along the precipitous mountain side, through tangled forest, until descending by the side of the Illecellewaet river they rejoined the Columbia in the more westerly portion of its course. They ferried once more across its waters and on its further shore met the trail in the

Gold Mountains, which they followed to the shores of the Shushwap lake. Here taking the steamer to Kam- loops, they finally reached the railway at Spence's bridge in the valley of the Thompson, and so completed their journey to the Pacific. The pedestrian portion of their journey was about

170 miles, and as there was always an uncertainty as to what difficulties might lie ahead, they wasted no time en route ; but even so, owing to the imperfection of the trail, it took them seventeen days from the time I.] THE IDEA SUGGESTED. 3 they left the railway at Hector pass to reach the steamer on the Shushwap lake. Of the three pack-horses, two only survived the journey. The other poor beast, after numerous falls, became so disabled that it had to be abandoned seven days before the lake was reached.

Their return journey was made across the continent by the Northern Pjicific Railway, and soon after their arrival at home, H., my cousin, related to me a full

account of their adventures ; his description of the great beauty of the mountain scenery of the Selkirk range awakened my interest and caused visionary desires to rise in my mind that some day or other, I too might have a chance of seeing those vast jiine forests, with their grand background of glacier-clad peaks.

In 1886 the first through train of the Canadian

Pacific Railway ran from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and since then, travellers have many times written accounts of that journey, the grandeur of the Selkirks invariably proving the climax of their wonder and admiration.

I took for granted that the Selkirks were pretty well "done," now that a railway ran through the midst of them, and they faded by degi'ees from their place in my imagination. However, in the autumn of 1887 I chanced to meet a gentleman who had gone as special artist to the Graphic on the British Association excursion. He had lately met Professor Macoun, of the Canadian Geological Survey, and gathered that not only were the Selkirks as yet almost entirely unexjslored, but B 2 4 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. that it was much to be desired that some one who had had experience of glacier-clad ranges should explore them. A very brief correspondence with Professor

Macoun settled the question, and I determined to go.

Then came the most serious question of all, in an undertaking like that before me, Whom should I ask to join me ? Many a man whose acquaintance is most valuable, whose help from a scientific point of view would be great, and whose company on a short excursion might prove delightful, would perhaps not be the one to work with, when not only the body is worn out with fatigue, but when the mind is too tired to pre- serve its usual "civility" to outward circumstances.

Those who have had experience of prolonged expeditions, where men are inseparably thrown together, and have to endure hunger and thirst, fatigue and sleepless nights in company, will understand what this means. Those who do not understand it had better think twice on the subject before starting on such an expedition. Men must know each other most in- timately in order to combine with success, or else one must be " boss " and the others subservient to orders.

H. and I knew one another sufficiently well to promise a successful combination of this nature. We had travelled together in Switzerland, and had attained to the great stage of perfection—that of being able to squabble with impunity. He had been in the Selkirks before, and had recently been practising photography. I knew I.] OUK EQUIPMENT. 5 him to be capable of enduring any amount of fatigue, so I was fortunate in inducing him to become my companion. We began by trying to find out what prospects of help we could count on in the way of porters to carry our goods in the mountains, and after some correspondence on the subject, I abandoned the idea of bringing men with me from Europe.

Some fine photographs taken from the railway track enabled me to form some idea of the nature of the mountains. Mountain camps should evidently be provided for, so I selected a small Alpine tent, made on

Mr. Whymper's plan, which I had used in the New

Zealand Alps ; also a larger duck tent which had been our permanent camp on that expedition. I now got made a larger Alpine tent to hold four. This was

formed on the same plan as the smaller one ; the floor, sides, and one end being sewn permanently together.

The material was unbleached calico, stitched by a friend in a sewing-machine, soaked with linseed oil and hung up for a month to dry. The test of two long expeditions have now proved to me that this is the lightest and most serviceable kind of tent. A curtain of mosquito net attached to the door makes it perfect. It is im- pervious to wind, insects and rain, and small objects are not in any danger of being lost, when laid carelessly on the tent floor. Felt sleeping bags, blankets, and a canteen, which had been with me in New Zealand made up our camp outfit. 6 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIEES. [chap.

The next part of our equipment to be thought of

was fire-arms. What should Ave need ? We heard of

bears, bighorn, and grouse, but the chances of sport,

when we were not going definitely for it, Avere not very

great. Our armament finally consisted of a Henri

Martini rifle, taking the ordinary army ammunition ; a

very light little Snider carbine, an Express, a twelve

bore double-barrelled gun, and a light walking-stick

oun which fired either shot or ball. This latter was

thought to be handy for providing animals for the

pot, but we afterwards found out, that it Avas rather

more dangerous to the person Avho fired it than to

anything else. We did not imagine there would

be need for such a startling armament as this, but

not knoAving Avhich Aveapon would be most useful Ave

took all.

Coming nearer to the special work of our undertaking,

Ave had to plan our photographic aiTangements. My

cousin undertook chief charge of this department, and

he brought tAvo cameras, one for quarter-plates and one

for half-plates, and I packed up another half-plate instrument and a small Stim's detective camera,

Avhich latter Avas a most useful adjunct, and did most

satisfactory Avork.

Sketch-books antl Avater colours Avere added, and then

came some apparatus lent by the Royal Geographical

Society, AA^hich may be considered as "the chief cause of our existence "—the s\irveying instruments. —

I.] SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS. 7

These consisted of a plane table, legs, and aledade, which packed into a knapsack case and weighed as our shoulders knew to their cost—no less than

27 lbs. I had a lighter table made to fix on my camera stand which we often used instead; and sometimes we fixed the camera by a special screw on to the head of an ice-axe stuck firmly in the snow. I tried to attach the plane table in a similar manner, but the difficulty of levelling and steadying were too great to commend the plan. A prismatic compass, two aneroids, a set of thermometers and a hypso- meter made up the list from the Royal Geographical

Society.

Besides the above I took a six-inch sextant, which unfortunately came to an untimely end. Fifty sheets of paper cut to fit the plane table .were packed in a tin case and an amj)le reserve stowed among my luggage. I sometimes used both sides of these sheets in this way. Having marked off the angles on one side I turned up the sheet, sketched the panorama, and numbered the peaks in view with figures corresponding to the bearings taken on the other side.

As the first thing necessary in anything of a trigonometrical survey is to be sure of a base line, and though

I hoped that such a line might be found already provided by the line of railway, I brought a steel line

220 yards long (^ of a mile) accurately measured 8 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [ch.i.

before leaving home ; this saved us much time in measuring.

Thanks to helping hands of kind friends, all the gear was ready and everything settled for us to leave

Queensto-vvn, for New York in the City of Rome on June 29th, 1888. — —

CHAPTER II.

" All things move Westward Ho .... It is bound up in the heart of man, that longing for the West." Kingslet.

The City of Rome-—New York. —TJie Hudson. — Lake George. Ottawa.

On Wednesday, June 28th, H. met me in Queenstown. We gave our goods to the agents of the Anchor Line

Steamship Company, spent a last evening with our friends and next morning went on board the tender, which conveyed us outside the harbour where our big ship was at anchor waiting for her passengers.

For two days after leaving Queenstown we enjoyed splendid weather. On Saturday a freshening breeze and falling barometer warned us to look out for squalls. In

the evening the wind shifted to the south-west ; all sail was then taken in and Sunday dawned with a furious gale right in our teeth. The sea was rising fast, and

though well used to the ocean in all its moods ; to see it cleft asunder by this huge ship as she drove at the rate of fourteen knots an hour into the storm, to watch —

10 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. her splitting the gi'eat seas and sending the spray flying like a continuous snowstorm from her bows, seemed to me one of the grandest sights I had ever beheld. For our ship was one

"That neither cared for wind, nor hail, nor rain Nor swelling waves, but through them did pass, So proudly that she made them roar again."

At 10 A.M. she made one terrible plunge. Everything passed out of sight in clouds of foam, and when her bows rose once more we saw that the look-out bridge had been smashed by the sea, and that the man in it lay on the floor crushed down beneath the iron rails. The engines were stopped to let the bo'sen's crew go forward to lower him to the deck, and he was taken to the surgery to have his wounds dressed. Immediately the screw resumed work and we drove on our headlong way into the storm. Two hours later another huge billow loomed up ahead.

The engines were slowed. The great sea was split and flung aside.

This time, however, the spirit of the storm had his

revenge ; for as the big ship's bows rose out of the foam we saw tlie bowsprit tremble and then plunge into the sea on the port side. It had been snapped across close to the stem. The engines were promptly stopped, and when the ship's way through the water ceased, the officers and men went forward to see what could be done. The bowsprit was a hollow steel spar of about ir.] THE FOURTH OF JULY AT SEA. 11

four feet in diameter, it was hanging deep in the water,

and being connected with the stem by solid iron bobstays

there was no way of getting rid of it. The only thing

to be done was to hoist it on deck. This operation

took four hours, during which time we lay in the

trough of the sea, with the full brunt of the storm on

our broadside. Our ship, however, was marvellously

steady ; she did not roll much, but rose and fell witli

the greatest ease over the huge billows.

Next day we had steamed out of the cyclone, the

summer sun shone out, and the afternoon was devoted

to athletic sports on the jDromenade deck. The Fourth

of July was duly celebrated by orations in the saloon,

which was draped with flags in honour of the great

day of American Independence.

On the evening of the 5th we were all on

the look-out for land. The coast ought to have

been visible, but a low-lying haze obscured it.

Presently there loomed out of the fog an object like a rock rising above a strip of sandy beach, and an

American friend standing near remarked, "That, sir, is the largest hotel in the world ! " It certainly was a characteristic first glimpse of the country which every one knows " licks creation." Rockaway Hotel contains about 1700 bedrooms, and "the biggest hotel in the world " has smashed every company that, up to the present, has undertaken to run it. As the sun was setting we threaded our way 12 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. through the Hnes of buoys, which mark the banks in the neighbourhood of Sandy Hook in New- York Bay. Then we entered the harbour, between low headhmds, clad in vivid green and fortified in

old-fashioned style,^ to the still waters inside, where

we anchored for the night.

The western sky was glowing gold. A dark steel- blue gloom lay upon the harbour and city through

which sparkled myriads of lights. High above the

houses Brooklyn bridge was faintly visible, its bright

lights glimmering like a chain of fire-flies in a spider's

web, and nearer to us, Bartoldi's colossal statue of

Liberty held up her electric torch, 300 feet above the

waters of the harbour. The evening was calm and warm. Dancing went on on deck, and few regretted

that we were late for the port doctor's visit, that

functionary being off duty after sunset, and so must

delay our landing till morning.

At 5.30 A.M. breakfast was served in the saloon.

The City of Rome meanwhile steamed slowly up

towards the wharves, entered her dock at 7 A.M., and we were then landed into a big shed where the custom-

house ordeal had to be faced.

While waiting for our turn we were able to sym-

1 Save and except the famous Zalinski pneumatic gun, throwing immense shells of dynamite, which on our homeward voyage we saw projecting like the long arm of a derrick from the fortress in nrid- chaunel. II.] NEW YORK. 13 patliise with the misfortunes of others. One fellow- passenger was so rigorously searched, that he was even compelled to open a box of Cockle's pills, sealed up in blue paper just as they had come from the chemist's.

Two Italians had to pay seven dollars duty on an ivory crucifix in a velvet case. Our lusfgaffe was so cumbrous that I expected all kinds of difficulties, but the officers were most civil, and though puzzled a little by our ice-axes &c., after a short consulta- tion, they passed us without any trouble or payment whatever. Entrusting our heavy baggage to an Express man to deliver next day on board the Hud- son river steamer, we ste^Dped into a two-horse cab and drove to our hotel about two miles distant. For this drive we had to j)ay one dollar, which did not seem excessive, considering all the warnings about exorbitant cab fares we had received before leaving home. As the temperature was over 90° in the shade I was glad, after completing some matters of business, to seek the breezy height of Brookljni bridge.

I crossed it in the train and strolled back, looking down on the city with its crowded wharves, the arms of the sea which, with the Hudson river encircle it, and the myriad white steamers crossing hither and thither,

making strange sounds with their whistles and fog-

horns, in all possible and impossible keys.

The broken outline of the city with its spires

and the colour of the houses, in which red pre- 14 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

dominated, contrasted well with the blue waters

of the bay, and the bright transparent atmosphere

all helped to make this one of the most interesting

panoramas to be seen anywhere in the world.

The evening we spent with an old college friend

and his family in their delightful home embosomed

in trees, near Orange, about seven miles from the city.

After the scorching glare of the streets it was delio^htful

to sit on the verandah in the cool night air and

watch the fireflies fflidino^ through the shade.

As our intention was to leave New York en roicte for Canada early next morning by the steamer up the Hudson, we had to return by the last train to

Jersey city, and then in one of those wonderful ferry steamers we regained New York. The journey from New York to Montreal can be made by various routes, but a glance at any map will show you that a perfectly natural w^ater-way exists with quite insignificant breaks, by the Hudson river. Lake

George, and Lake Champlain. Before the days of railways such a route was naturally of great importance, and consequently from a historic point of view, as well as from the beauty of its scenery, it is one of the most interesting routes in America. Along these lakes and rivers armies advanced and retreated in many wars, and the battle-fields you pass in your journey—Saratoga, Plattsburg, Ticonderoga, Crown Point and many more recall both sad and glorious memories. Rival rail- II.] A KIVER STEAMER ON THE HUDSON. 15

way lines now occuf)y both shores of the Hudson and make travelling expeditious and luxurious. We how-

ever determined to follow the course of the river

and lakes in the big white steamers ; those on the

Hudson no doubt surpassing anything of the kind else- where, in the luxury of their fittings.

At 8 A.M. we went on board the New York, and found that our luggage had been duly deliv- ered by the Express agent. Though I had been somewhat prepared for the magnificence of these river steamers, I felt, like the Queen of Slieba, that the half was not told me. The richly carpeted saloons extended from stem to stern, the abundance of sofas and artistic easy-chairs, the wood carving and general decorations were all magnificent, but the engine impressed me most of all. Large plate- glass windows, separating the saloons from the engine-room, enabled one to watch this splendid piece of mechanism. Every part of the engine and the rows of large spanners against the walls were burnished like silver and shone as I never saw iron do before.

The motion too was unaccompanied by noise, and the engineer sat in an easy-chair on a carpeted floor.

The scenery on the Hudson is very beautiful.

Bold precipitous hills, alternating with rich wood- land, form the chief features of its shores. For many miles the Catskill mountains are visible. Numerous towns nestle alon"; the marain of the river at the IG AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. foot of high hills, a continuous succession of parks with comfortable country-houses give an old-world aspect to the scene, and were it not for the lack of old castles and vineyards, we might have thought we were on the Rhine. In fact I think the natural scenery is gTander.

The huge icehouses, where ice cut on the river in winter is stored for summer use, are very unsightly, but the ice barges, as they pass in long lines down the river, in the tow of steamers, form an interesting feature of the Hudson, and give to it that air of busy life which adds no small charm to the Rhine.

About 100 miles from New York, after steaming some hours in sight of the Catskills, we reached Albany and took the train for Saratoga. I do not know how it was, but all day I could not get out of my head my first trip to Switzerland. The Rhine, Wiesbaden, the Swiss lakes and the snowy peaks all followed each other in natural succession. Now the Rhine was the Hudson, Wiesbaden was well represented by its big American cousin Saratoga. But betweeii us and the snowfields lay, Avhat has no parallel in

Europe—the boundless prairie. This is however going a step too far for the present. We spent Sunday at Congress Hall Hotel, Saratoga,

which supplies accommodation for a thousand guests. A long imposing verandah, supported by Greek columns,

and a host of most obsequious but not-to-be-trifled-with II.] AT SARATOGA. 17 black waiters were the chief characteristics of our temporary abode. And as one had heard so much of the ap- palling fires in American hotels, it was no little comfort to find that every bedroom was supplied with a coil of strong manilla rope, spliced to an iron ring close inside the window and long enough to reach to the ground outside. It was comfortable to think that we need not be

roasted alive ; but we could not help speculating on what percentage of the thousand guests within, could slide even six feet down a rope, without letting go ?

We went to church twice. At the evening service a judge from New Mexico, specially licensed by the bishop to preach, gave us a very good sermon concerning the building of churches on the frontiers of civilization in the far south-west. The band in the gardens played only sacred airs, as it was Sunday.

Wishing to see what the country was like, H. and I took a three-mile walk. Far as ever we could see, the soil was of the lightest possible character, rounded gravel and sand predominating; the great amount of this kind of soil in the United States and Canada must be realised ere we can fairly estimate the population-supporting capabilities of the North American Continent. On the principle of everything in America being

"the biggest &c.," the Saratoga races are no ex- ception. A race-meeting at home is considered long enough if it lasts two or three days. The Saratoga c !

18 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. races, with the " correct card " of which we were furnished, continue for thirty days right on end.

We of course drank the waters at each of the medicinal springs, and felt none the worse, and on

Monday morning were once more on the cars en route for Lake George, which we reached ut 9.30 KM. through beautiful wooded dells, bright with wdld tiger-lilies.

Lake George is a thirty-five miles' length of perfect

loveliness ; its thickly-wooded hills reminded me of many Killarneys in one. As we entered bay after bay each had its charming little inn nestling amid rich woods, its flotilla of skiffs and light canoes in which pretty girls in pink and white muslin paddled to and fro, or lay moored to tree branches while the occupants lounged, or read, or sketched beneath the shade.

" She was cargo and crew, She was boatswain and skipper. She was passenger too Of the Nutshell canoe, And the eyes were so blue Of this sweet tiny tripper. She was cargo and crew. She was boatswain and skipper."

Life on Lake George in the glorious summer weather seems quite worth living. How delightful it would be to pause amongst those thousand islands, and to dream with Fenimore Cooper of Mohicans, and the scenes

which these wooded hills once looked down on Times however were changed—the past might not !

11.] THE RUINS OF FORT TICONDEROGA. 19 come back, the present might be a shade too charming, and our thoughts were already in the far wilder woods beyond the prairie. From the head of Lake George to Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain was half an hour by train. An interesting object in a scene, singularly wanting in natural beauty, were the ruins of Fort

Ticonderoga, which crowned a flat, grass-covered pro- montory projecting into the lake. How many historical memories names such as these call up

From the breastwoiks of this stronghold Aber- crombie fell back, defeated by the French with a loss of 2,000 men, on July 16th, 1758, and only saved the

survivors by a precipitate retreat down Lake George.

The young and gallant Lord Howe, who fell on this

fatal day, is commemorated in Westminster Abbey by

a monument erected by the State of Massachusetts. A few months later however the French garrison capitulated to Abercrombie's successor in command of

a larger force.

But the route we are on was also the theatre of still more momentous war—the great struggle between the American colonists and the British crown. Along this

route Burgoyne fought his way by lake and by land

against the Americans, till reaching the Hudson river

he was defeated in the battle of Saratoga, and he and

his army became prisoners of war. All the evening we

its spent steaming up Lake Champlain ; past busy manufacturing towns, which are now of more importance c 2 20 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. than Ticonderoga of fateful memories. At Plattsburg, also famous for its battle-field, we took the train for Montreal, and arriving there in three hours, a long but most delightful day was brought to a conclusion.

Our first business in the morning was to look up our luggage, which had come, booked through, from New York, and was now in the bonded stores at the

Grand Trunk station. It had to be carted about two miles to the Canadian Pacific Railway. Meanwhile we

went to pay our respects to Sir W. C. Van Home, who was then vice-president of the Canadian Pacific Rail- way. He was absent, but we were kindly received by

his secretary, Mr. Piers, who placed in our hands free

passes to Vancouver and back. A special pass entitled

us to make full use of the railway in the Selkirk range.

Mr. Piers also showed us a splendid collection of

photographs, taken along the line ; so before we left

the head offices of the company we had learned

much about the regions we were so soon to see. Our leave of absence from home being limited, and not a moment could be wasted before we got at our work, we were compelled to make this one

day do for Montreal ; and as we hoped to gain much

further information at Ottawa, we left at 8.20 P.M.

Passing many farms along the line, which we could

see as long as the daylight lasted, we reached

Ottawa shortly after midnight. II.] OTTAWA. 21

My first thought after breakfast on the 11th was to visit Professor Macoun at the Geological Museum, but to my chagrin I found he had left for Nova Scotia. The young lady who acted as librarian however proved an able helper, and she provided me with all the maps and other information published by the Natura

History Survey department. An hour was Avell spent in the Geological Museum, and then I walked to the government buildings and called on Major Deville, the

Surveyor-General. He kindly showed me all the ex- isting maps, gave me much valuable infonnation, and allowed me to make a tracing of a small scale MS. map of the railway line through the Selkirks. This provided me with a starting-point for the survey we were about to make. Major Deville was also able to advise me in many practical details. He gave me a letter to Mr. Macarthur, the Assistant Surveyor, at present at work in the Rockies, and loaded me with

" Reports of the Interior," out of which I picked much that was interesting on our journey.

The heat in the forenoon was most oppressive. About

2 P.M. it beo-an to blow in gusts, and in half an hour there was a perfect hurricane, sending boards and everything movable flying in all directions, striking down tele-

graph wires, and causing general consternation ; the temperature fell over 30° F. in four hours, and the evening turned out wet and bitterly cold. We were much impressed by the falls on the Ottawa river, flanked by 22 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [ch. ii. great lumber mills which we visited when the storm had subsided ; but one day had to suffice for Montreal, so also must one day do for Ottawa, and at midnight we drove to the railway and took our places in the cars of the Pacific express, for our four days' journey to the Rocky Mountains. "

CHAPTER III.

" AVhat man would live coffined with brick and stone, Imprisoned from the influences of air, And cramped with selfish landmarks everywhere, When all before him stretches, furrowless and lone, The unmapped prairie none can fence or own ? Lowell.

The Backwoods. —Winnipeg. —The Prairie. —Mementoes of the buflalo. — Prairie Indians. —Calgary. —First view of the Rockies.

A COLD wet midnight is not the pleasantest time for hunting up one's luggage on an open railway plat-

form ; so having secured a pocket full of brass checks, representing the responsibility of the railway company for an equal number of boxes and packs, we stepped on board the nearest car. It was the colonists' sleeping car, down which, between four rows of men, women, and children, for the most part asleep, we made our way to our own quarters. Selecting seats in the first- class car, I went on to the " Slee^Der " at the end of the train, where I secured a luxurious u^jper berth, and getting inside the curtains was snug between the 24 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. sheets, when the conductor's cry " All aboard," and the blast of the deep-toned whistle, more like a steamer's fog-horn than the shrill scream uttered by European locomotives, announced our departure from

Ottawa for the Far West. We passed through some cultivated country during the nicjht, and found when leaving our berths in the morning that we had fairly entered upon the rugged back-woods region, abounding in moose and bears and innumerable rock-bound lakelets and trout streams,

the happy hunting grounds of sportsmen ; but except for "lumber," and in some places minerals, the land was Avorth little from a commercial point of view, and for the most part utterly irreclaimable. All day we rattled along through these regions, stopping every now and then at some little station, for our engine to take a drink, when many of the passengers alighted and gathered wild flowers. Some Indians with little pa-

pooses came on board at one station, and got out further

on. We were in the back woods : but what a wreck ! Occasionally we got glimpses of fine forests with stately

trees, but for the most part nothing was to be seen but

burning, smouldering, or charred trunks ; the very soil

seemed to be consumed, and the bare surfaces of ice-polished domes of ancient rocks appeared everywhere.

The smoke of the burning pines filled the air, and

when night came on, the ruddy glare of forest fires m.] THE CANADIAN PACIFIC EAILWAY. 25 made this wild region look still more weird. The rail-

Avay engine is of course the chief culprit in this wide- spread devastation, and we hoped that the burnt-out belt did not extend many miles from the track. Our second morning found us coasting along the north shore of Lake Superior, the track finding its way in wide sweeps and curves, round deep bays and bold headlands. The great inland ocean lay placid in the sunshine, only a very gentle swell made itself apparent in small breakers on the shore.

This portion of the Canadian Pacific Railway was the last constructed piece of the whole line, and was beset with the greatest engineering difficulties ; it is also the most troublesome portion to keep open in winter, as the snow-storms blowing over the great lakes pile up heavy drifts in the numerous cuttings, which owing to the ruggedness of the route it was impossible to avoid. The alternative but longer route, from Owen Sound to Port Arthur, by the fine steamers on the lakes, is adopted by many passengers going west, and at Port

Arthur we were joined by this contingent, and till we reached Winnipeg, the train was crowded in consequence. " At Port Arthur we entered on the " Western division of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which extends to

Donald, on the Columbia, a distance of 1,454 miles. On our way to Winnipeg we traversed much of the route adopted by Lord Wolseley, in 1870, in his famous ;

26 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. march on Fort Garry, as Winnipeg was then called, and saw some of his steamers, launches, and barges lying in a forlorn condition on the margin of a creek.

It was breakfast-time on our second morning when, after passing through much cultivated prairie land clothed M'ith a green, luxuriant crop of young wheat, we reached Winnipeg. Here we breakfasted at the railway station instead of in the dining car, as was

our wont ; changed into another train, and then started for our long run of 900 miles over the prairie.

After quitting the rugged hills near Lake Superior it seemed as though we had left land behind us and were now crossing a great ocean. In truth we were

crossing what had once been a wide expanse of sea,

and that not very long ago, geologically speaking.

For Canadian geologists tell us that in post-pleistocene

times the old Laurentian and Huronian rocks of

Eastern Canada were glacier-clad, and sent great

ice-sheets down into a wide sea to the westward

that from these glaciers icebergs went adrift, as they

now do from the Great Humboldt glacier in Greenland,

bearins: on their sides fragments of their Laurentian

rocky bed : that they drifted across an ocean of water,

dropping the rocks they bore as they floated along,

where now^ waves the great ocean of grass and prairie

flowers. In early times many such bergs were able to

sail all the way to the Rocky Mountains, and the

blocks of Laurentian rocks now found on their slopes in.] THE PRAIRIE AND ITS HISTORY. 27

tell the story so plainly that he who runs may read.

In later times the ocean retreated to the eastward, leaving the high prairie near Calgary as dry land. For

ages after this the bergs still drifted westward, till they srrounded on that western shore which now marks a

great step in the prairie known as the Missouri Coteau.

Other ancient margins are visible where the ocean has

left landmarks of its retreat ; and if the icebergs per- formed no other great purpose in the economy of the

universe, they supplied numerous scratch ing-stones for

the buffaloes, who used them for ages till they became

quite polished.

So these boulders, scattered on the prairie, stand as

monuments of the past for three great facts : the existence of an ocean where now is land ; the existence

of glacier ice where now the pine forests flourish ; and

the existence, a few years since, of herds of buffalo

which roamed these plains in hundreds of thousands,

but like the ocean and the glaciers have vanished from

the scene.

The destruction of the buffaloes, sudden and bloody, like man's awkward way of doing things, is a sad story but I suppose in some form it was necessary, for

" Where man's convenience, liealth or safety interferes, His rights are paramount and must extinguish theirs."

The migrating of the herds was quite incompatible with civilization and agriculture, for no fence could stay

their march or deflect them from their course. —

28 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

For twenty years before their end came the hide hunters wrought destruction amongst them. The buffalo was a stupid beast, and if the hunter took ordinary care not to show his head, he might sit behind a bluff and fire away while his ammunition lasted without the herd moving off. A much more sportsmanlike way was to "run" the buffalo on a horse trained to run alongside the herd, while the rider planted bullets in the beasts he selected. Such famous shots as Dr. Carver could in a twenty minutes' run, kill or disable thirty or forty buffalo. In one season he is said to have killed 5000 to his own rifle.

The slaughter wrought in various ways caused the

death-roll in some years to reach half a million.

Another reason for their destruction however brought

the remnant that was left to its final doom. The

Prairie Indians were troublesome ; a general massacre

would not look well in the newspapers, so the best

way to get rid of the Prairie Indian seemed to be to

" wipe out " the buffalo on which he lived. So, valuable

as their robes were, the sentence of death was pronounced by the American Government in 1879, and

carried out in this way. Along the 49th parallel the Canadian and United States boundary—the Americans stationed a cordon of soldiers, hunters, anil

Indians, with orders not to let a buffalo pass alive.

And there, in that year, in sight of the Rocky Moun-

tains, in the land of the Blackfeet, whose warriors, III.] ON THE WILD PRAIRIE. 29 from time immemorial used to fioht for their rights over the buffalo with their neighbours the Crees, ^ith the Flatheads, and Stonies, and Kootenays, who traversed the Rocky Mountains to poach on their preserves; 32,000 buffaloes were slaughtered in one great hunt, and their bones left to whiten the plain.

Near Winnipeg, at Stony Mountain, a small herd of buffalo have been preserved for cross-breeding with

European cattle, their chief value being the robes, which now are so highly prized. Owing how^ever to the sterility of the offspring no great development is possible in this direction.

Immediately west of Winnipeg we enter on the wild prairie, which ere now would have been broken up by the plough, were it not held by land speculators, who do not cultivate, but just hold the land in hopes of gaining higher prices. As this great tract of country forms a kind of shuttlecock between large capitalists, who care nothing about farming, there is no knowing when it wuU reach the farmer's hands and be turned to the use for which it is so eminently fitted by nature. A run of forty miles carried us through this unoccupied belt. Then homesteads became frequent, with corn- fields and pasture land, which would make any farmer's heart leap for joy. Though the land looked as flat as the ocean, the aneroid recorded a gentle increase in altitude as we went westward.

Having now settled down somewhat, we began 30 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. to study our fellow passengers. Besides a detach- ment of the Salvation Army, consisting of two men and two " Hallelujah lasses," who sang hymns and prayed at intervals during the day, we had a great

number of immigrants from distant lands ; amongst them about a score of Icelanders, the women very re- fined-looking, in full costume decked with silver ornaments and black lace, the men rough and hardy.

They could speak no English, and at Brandon, the largest prairie town in Manitoba, they left us and were conducted to the sheds prepared by Government for immigrants until they could be settled on their allotted land. About 6 pm. we passed out of Manitoba into the Western territories, and when the sun set we were in an ocean of wild prairie grass. A sedgy lake teeming with wild fowl ; innumerable prairie dogs, like elongated guinea-pigs, nibbling the seed off the grass,

or standing erect at their burrows ; and some lodges of Cree Indians made up the landscape. During the night, we stopped at Kegina, the capital of the province of Assiniboia, where a branch of the

Canadian Pacific Railway turns off to the northward.

Here are the head-quarters of the Mounted Police, a fine military-looking, red-coated body of cavalry, to whose care the peace of the territories is intrusted. Here too meteorological records are kept, and are specially interesting, as in this region, the centre of the plains, we find great extremes of summer heat and III.] EXTREMES OF TEMPERATURE. 31 winter cold. In the latest statistics in my possession

I find that for January and February the mean temperature at Regina was 15° below zero F., and the lowest reading recorded was — 52°, while in July the mean temperature was -f 62°. The rainfall for the same year was under twenty inches. The dryness of the air and absence of wind makes heat and cold far more tolerable than one might think from the mere readino-s

of the thermometer ; but when the cold comes to mean seventy or eighty degrees of frost it is rather too severe to be either safe or pleasant.

When morning dawned and the sun rose, the view was exactly like what it had been the night before, a rolling prairie with a horizon-line like that of the ocean. Crossing and recrossing it in all directions were the tracks of the buffalo, and here and there might be seen the skull or bones of some of these fine animals, bleaching under the summer sun. At some of the tanks where we stopped to water the engine, heaps of skulls and bones had been collected for ex- portation to the sugar refineries or manure works of civilization,

Indians came to the train selling the horns they had picked up, but, as these were polished and thus robbed of all character, they did not seem attractive.

On our way home I secured one of the whitened skulls, with its rough weather-beaten horns.

Besides the tracks of the buffalo, we saw many of 32 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. tlieir wallowing holes, dotting the plain. Here having dug a slight depression with their horns, into which the water trickled, they rolled and covered themselves with mud. All day long we passed an unending series of grass-covered swells as in a panorama ; its very sameness seemed so wonderful and so strange that I could never tire of looking at it.

In the afternoon the land appeared to get more sandy and barren, the sage bush was more frequent, and the profusion of sunflowers marvellous—they spread out everywhere in sheets of gold, but along the railway track they were richest of all. The margin of the line was like a ribbon of intense yellow far as the eye could see.

At last at 4 p.m. a change came over the scene.

Passing through some low, barren-looking hills, the line descended into the valley of the Saskatchewan river and we stopped for twenty-five minutes at Medicine Hat station. Here our tired-out locomotive was changed for another, the wheels of the cars were overhauled, and away we went again to the westward. As we crept up the incline beyond the river, an Indian on his pony raced the train, and seemed quite elated with himself at getting ahead of us, crossing the track in front of the engine, and riding slowly down the opposite side of the train.

About sunset we saw a few antelopes and coyotes, the latter evidently hoping to pick up a stray prairie III.] CALGARY. 33

dog for supper ; some large hawks sailed about with no doubt a simdar object in view. Our elevation above the sea had now increased considerably, the general level of this part of the prairie being about 2,500 feet. The air was bracing and crystal-clear. In summer at any rate no climate could

be more delightful ; and strange as it may appear, from this on to the mountains, though increasing gradually in height, this region possesses the most open climate in

winter of any portion of the Dominion east of the Rocky Mountains.

The shades of evening soon closed in, and it was long after midnight when we reached Calgary. As it was our intention to break the journey here, in order to buy provisions for our mountain expedition, and to see some friends, we left the train and went to a hotel.

It was a grateful rest after days of perpetual motion and

rattle ; and as no West-bound train would pass until the same hour next night, we took our time at breakfast, and then went to call on the worthy parson, who conducted us to the best store for purchasing bacon, flour, biscuits, tinned meats, tea, sugar and all the et cctcras which seem necessaries of life. How strangely all plans of

travel Anally gravitate to the commissariat ! If only some one would kindly guarantee the commissariat, the summit of Mount Everest and the South Pole might easily be reached. I was much interested in hearing something of the D :

34 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

Indians, who occupy three large camps near Calgary.

They belong to different tribes ; the Bloods and the Blackfeet speaking one language, and the Sarcees another.

At dinner at our friend's house we had the good fortune to meet the mission teacher of the S.P.G., who resides with the Sarcees, and was formerly for some time in the much larger Blood camp. As these camps were too far off to reach them in our limited time, we walked about four miles on the prairie and saw some lodges of the Blackfeet. All these prairie Indians adhere to their native dress, with the addition ver}^ commonly of a slouched hat, which does not correspond somehow with the rest of their gear—a kind of tunic, leggings with coloured fringes all down the back of the leg and a bright-coloured blanket. Since the land has been

taken up b}^ Government they are supposed to live on reserves, and for the most part the law is adhered to

on the reserve is a Government agent who issues

rations to them, which, with other items, form portion of

the stipulated payment for the landed rights handed

over by them to the Government. They breed horses,

learn agriculture, and go on the hunting path at stated

times of the year as formerly. Though they still endure

great tortures in the ordeal which admits them to the

number of the braves, their wars we hope are over for

ever.

We ought I suppose to feel thankful for such a III.] PRESENT CONDITION OF THE INDIANS. 35 change. How strange then does it seem that sadness is the feeHng which involuntarily seems to arise

instead ! The fact is, the Indian was like a fine wild animal in the ideal we formed of him from story- books. Now he is dropping into a very ordinary piece of humanity. We must in truth be thankful that civilization, and we hope in some cases real

Christian feeling, has made their ferocity, their love of torturing captives, and some of their more terrible vices impossible. Well for them if the meaner vices

which skulk under a varnish of civilization do not take their place, and leave the last state of the man

worse than the first ! The Indians living on the

prairies of the Dominion and in British Columbia

now number about 100,000, but an accurate census of

them would I think be impossible.

The settled Indians of the Eastern provinces have

been admitted to the franchise. The half-wild Indians

of the prairie are yet outside these rights of citizenship.

They are essentially nomadic, and their camps show

the necessity for constant moves. Around their lodges

bones and skins and offal of all kinds accumulate and

their only plan of improving their sanitary condition is

to strike camp and move on. Every acre of the plain

near Calgary appears to have been occupied in this way.

It seems as if it were yet a long way off before such a

race of people could thrive in settled towns.

The interest which attaches to these poor Indians has D 2 36 AMOKG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [ch. hi.

delayed me from saying one word of the view. But

what a view ! worth coming all the way from England

to see. In a deep cutting the Bow river wound its way towards the mighty Saskatchewan : the great high-

way of the North West, before the Canadian Pacific Railway revolutionised that region. North, south, and

east lay the wide swells of golden-grassed prairie, but

to the westward the Rocky Mountains were in sight for

nigh a hundred miles. They rose like a great purple rampart, jagged and peaked in outline, above the ocean

of grass. Glaciers and snow fields glinted in the sun-

shine ; deep valleys suggested rivers and passes ; the distance was too great to make out the details, the

sharp outline of the summits melted downwards into

blue atmosphere, as the lower portions of the ranges

met the golden yellow of the prairie : the contrast was superb. CHAPTER IV.

" Where living things, and tilings inanimate, Do speak, at Heaven's command, to eye and ear, And speak to social reason's inner sense. With inarticulate language." Wordsworth.

Descriptive. — Geology. —Forests. — Animals. —Early explorers.

As we are about to leave the plains across which we have travelled for more than a thousand miles, most

impressive as they were to us in their vastness ; and are about to enter the defiles of the Rocky Mountains, it seems well that we should try and form some clear idea of the nature and chief physical aspects of this great mountain region.

It begins abruptly, as I have described in the first mountain range, the Rocky Mountains proper, rising as a great rampart and bounding the western margin of the prairie. The foot-hill region, where the prairie, though cleft by river valleys and rapidly rising into tilted slopes, retains its character for some time in benches and plateaus, forms a belt only fifteen miles wide. To :

38 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

the westward of this first range, the high peaks of which average about 11,000 feet above the sea, we come to a deep depression filled by the upper portion of the Columbia river, which, rising far to the southward of the track followed by the railway, flows northward, parallel to the Rocky Mountains, for 170 miles.

Then, having been joined by Canoe river from the glaciers of Mounts Lyell, Hooker, and Brown, which mountains are probably from 10,000 to 12,000 feet high, it sweeps round in a wide bend and flows southward, parallel to its former course. Passing through the

Arrow lakes it is joined by the Kootenay. This large tributary near its source is separated by only one and a half miles from the head waters of the Columbia after flowing southward in a wide bend and passing through the great Kootenay lake it joins the Columbia, which has now assumed the dimensions of a mighty river. The Columbia now crosses the United States frontier, and after a total course of 1,400 miles, finds its way through Washington territory to the Pacific.

Entering this mountain region from the eastward by the Canadian Pacific Railway, we cross the first mountain range at Hector pass, which, involving an ascent from the prairie of only 2,500 feet, descends

4,360 feet by steep gradients to the Columbia valley.

Making a first crossing of the river at Donald, the track then ascends the Selkirks, as those mountains are called which occupy the whole region inclosed by IV.] RIVERS AND MOUNTAIN RANGES. 39 the great loop of the Columbia and Kootenay rivers.

At Rogers pass, 4,275 feet high, the railway crosses this range. Most picturesque snow-clad peaks tower up 6,000 feet above the track, and white glaciers are visible above the rich dark pine forest. Descending once more into the valley of the Columbia, in the western portion of its course, the line crosses the river for a second time, and then ascending the Gold range, and skirting for many miles the lovely Shushwap lake, it makes its way into the valley of the Thompson river.

Following the Thompson through its grand canons to its junction with the Frazer, the railway goes along by the Frazer through magnificent gorges to the flat forest land near the sea. It will be seen then, that on leaving the prairie we bid adieu to the plains and for several hundred miles traverse a succession of mountain ranges ; the Rockies, the Selkirks, the Gold range and the Cascades, being, roughly speaking, parallel. We enter a region of vast ravines and wide valleys, whose sides, when not bare rock precipices, are clad in sombre

forests ; through which wild mountain torrents rush from glacier sources to placid lakes, where after resting for a while and reflecting the hoary cedars and hemlocks, they issue forth as great rivers and with swift current hurry on to lose themselves in the Pacific.

The geology of Europe, where that science was first studied, under most difficult and complicated circum- 40 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

stances, forms a striking contrast to that of the New

World, where geological structure exhibits itself in

grand simplicity.

Many centuries of investigation passed before men recognized that the principal rock formations had been

laid down as sediment at the bottom of ancient seas.

Let any one look upon the walls of the great canons of

the Colorado, or even at photographs of them, and he

will find illustrations which at once force this conclusion

on his notice. The fossiliferous deposits they contain

confirm the fact and forbid any other possible ex- planation. The strata through which the Colorado has cut its grand section are the same which at an almost dead level cover the central part of the whole North

American continent. In Colorado such a section is possible, owing to the strata having been gently up- heaved above the sea-level; but so gentle is the upheaval that the horizontal character of the deposits has in no way been interfered with. From these great sections we learn that a large part of the American continent, now forming plains and plateaus, was gradually and continuously subsiding from carboniferous times to the end of the cretaceous age. The mud deposits of this long period, even in their present consolidated state, attain a thickness of about 15,000 feet, and since cretaceous times a gradual upheaval has been goiug on.

In some places the land has never since then IV.] GEOLOGY OF THE REGION. 41 been covered by sea, tbough it may have borne fresh-water lakes, the deposits of which have been distinctly recognized.

In the prairie region where the elevation has not been so great, the sea held its sway until more recent times. The great carboniferous ocean, in the portion of the continent crossed by the Canadian Pacific Railway, extended over the area now occupied by the Rocky

Mountains. From our investigations in the Selkirks, and from the examination of our rock specimens by

Professor Bonney since our return, I would conclude that the Selkirk peaks looked down upon that carboniferous sea; for tlie archsean rocks of the Selkirks and the more ancient character of all the strata of their higher ridges seem to point to their having been land before the Rockies of this region had risen from the sea.

The elevation of the more eastern range (i.e. the

Rockies) commenced before, and continued subsequent to the deposition of sediment in the cretaceous ocean.

This ocean seems to have been bounded at the foot of the Rocky Mountain region by extensive swamps, the deposits of which are now being worked in the Bow river valley and farther out in the foot-hill region as valuable coal beds.

The submergence of the prairie region in glacial times has already been referred to. A Mediterranean sea, according to Sir J. Dawson, seems then to have 42 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. existed, open to the southward, across which icebergs drifted, from the Laurentian land of Eastern Canada to the shores of the Rockies.

In the upheaval of the Selkirk range the structure of the continent has been disturbed to its lowest archasan foundation. Cambrian rocks seem to be the oldest in the Rockies. In both ranges there has been a violent crumbling and contortion of the strata, causing much metamorphism in the process.

The rocks of most constant occurrence in the

Selkirks are hard white and greenish, fine-grained quartzites, and silky corrugated mica schist. In the

Rockies quartzites are also of frequent occurrence, and the Ottertail range forming a beautiful group of

Alpine peaks, is composed of an intrusive mass of syenite, a rare phenomenon in this region.

The higher portions of the three parallel ranges, the Rockies, the Selkiiks, and the Gold mountains, are glacier-clad. So far as we could judge, the lowest termination of the glaciers is at about -4,000 feet above the sea in the Selkirks, and 1,000 feet higher in the

Rockies ; the difference must be accounted for by the greater amount of moisture deposited on the former range.

The oTeater moisture of the Selkirk climate is abundantly illustrated by the vegetation.

The forests in the Rockies are comparatively open, so that pack-hoises can be taken nearly everywhere ;

IV.] BOTANY OF THE MOUNTAINS. 43 through them. Those of the Selkkks are so hixurumt as to be well nigh impenetrable.

About twenty species of Coniferse occur in the forests of this mountain region. All the pines which flourish in the Rockies grow luxuriantly in the Selkirks, but in the Rockies such splendid trees as the western white cedar,^ and western hemlock ^ are not to be found except it may be sparingly on their western slopes while in the Selkirks they form a most important portion of the forest, attaining sometimes a height of over 150 feet, and the trunks of the former tree sometimes being ten feet in diameter.

Some species, such as the fine Douglas fir,^ prefer the valleys ; others, like the balsam,'* flourish close to the snow-line. Some species form extensive groves

all by themselves ; as a rule, however, many varieties are mixed together, and Engelmann's spruce^ may be considered, of all others, the most characteristic. In the Selkirks the undergrowth makes the forests most difficult to travel through. Besides such low-growing

Coniferse as the western yew,*" much of the scrub consists of white-flowered rhododendrons.^ Blueberry bushes^ grow everywhere; their delicious fruit is a most important help to the traveller's slender commissariat, and it has saved many a prospector from

^ Tlmya gigantca. - 'Tsuga McrteTisiana. ^ Pscudutsuga Dtncglasii. * Abies suhalpina. ^ Picca Engclmanm. " Tcixics brcvifolia. ^ a. albijtora. ^ Vaccinium MyrtiUus, kc. 44 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [cuap. starvation. In the damper portions of the forest the devil's club^ grows luxuriantly. It has large pale- green, palmate leaves and tufts of coral-red berries^ and attains a height of from four to six feet. But its stem and leaves are so beset with long slender thorns that it cannot be touched with safety, as the thorns are said to produce festering sores. It is bad enough, but probably the worst obstacle of all to the traveller is the alder scrub, which forms a dense jungle of slender stems, the lower parts of which from being pressed down by snow when young, grow parallel to the ground and then curve upwards to the vertical. Alders ^ thrive in the upper parts of the valleys near to the glaciers, and wherever else the pine forest has been prevented, by constantly recurring avalanches, from establishing itself.

When the configuration of the ground is favourable there is often above the forest line an area covered with grass, heaths of various species, and interesting

Alpine flowers, to which I shall have many occasions to allude. Comparing this Alpine flora with that of

Switzerland we find many species identical, and the

colours of the flowers seem quite as varied and brilliant.

In tliis respect I observed a distinct contrast to the

Alpine flora of New Zealand, where blue and red seemed

absent, pale tints predominated, and the majority of

the flowers were either white or yellow.

^ Fatsia IwrricUi. " Alims rlwinbifoUa and virescens. IV.] WILD ANIMALS OF THE SELKIEKS. 45

Though the flora of the Selkiiks seems richer than that of the Rockies, animal life is not nearly so varied.

Bighorn and wild goat are the most characteristic animals of the Alpine ranges of the Rockies. The former does not occur at all in the Selkirks.

The wild goat ^ is a fine creature, though not a true goat, but a goat-antelope like the chamois.

Unlike the chamois, however, it is covered with long white wool. The hoofs are very large, enabling it to walk on soft snow, and its tracks are consequently about the same size as those of a yearling calf.

Where we met with it, it was comparatively tame from never having been disturbed, and was inclined rather to seek our company than to shun it.

I cannot now go into the details concerning the deer found in the lower ranges, nor the numberless small animals of the marten and squirrel families inhabiting the forests. I must however say a few words about the bears. Black bears are very numerous, and we saw skins of the cinnamon bear, and the silvertip, as the variety of grizzly inhabiting the Selkirks is called. We constantly found ourselves

on the fresh tracks of bears. They were often close

to our camp. We measured their footprints in soft

mud, but we never got a shut at one. The fact

seems to be, that if you want to shoot bears in summer, you must have dogs to hunt them up and bring them

^ Aplocertos montanus. 46 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. to bay. Rough Irish terriers are as good for this work as any. The skin is worth little in the summer, so the best time for bear hunting is when the winter fur is growing, just before they go into winter quarters, or else when

they are waking up in the spring. Bears will almost invariably shun the presence of man, so you are per-

fectly safe from unprovoked attack ; there is danger

however, in meeting a she-bear with cubs. A wounded

bear is certain to attack, so when you fire you must

know what you mean to do next. A Winchester rifle, the weapon in general use, gives you ever}" advantage if you have time to use it. An axiom in bear-hunting therefore is—never fire at a bear above you on the

mountain side, for he can charge so fast downhill that

he may give you little time for a fatal shot. I could

only hear of one solitary case of a bear having attacked

a man, without provocation. The man was lying on his

face, drinking at a spring, when the bear jumped on him.

His companions fortunately shot the beast at once, and saved him from anything worse than a bad

scratching.

On the lakes and rivers of the low ground through-

out this region there is an abundance of geese, ducks,

and numerous other valuable birds. In the high ranges

bird life is decidedly scarce. Grouse of three species are

to be met wnth, one, the " fool hen " inhabiting the

forest region, being exceedingly tame and stupid, as its

name implies. The blue grouse of the upper slopes IV.] THE CLIMATE. 47 formed an excellent addition to our camp meals. On the Columbia river we saw many white-headed eagles and fish hawks. Among the Alpine heights I do not remember having once seen a rapacious bird.

If we were to judge of the climate of the Selkirks from our own experience only, I would conclude that such a splendid Alpine climate could not be surpassed by any other in the world. And though we were specially fortunate, fine weather in the summer is the rule. The annual rainfall in the Selkirks is, as might be expected, much greater than in the Rockies.

There is therefore more snow and the richer growth of vegetation to which I have already referred.

When the winds from the Pacific reach the prairies to the eastward, much of their moisture has been deposited

on the various ranges they have traversed, and as a consequence, their temperature has risen, so that

these warm " Chinook " winds, as they are called, form a most characteristic feature of the whole region.

The winter climate of the high prairies of Alberta is

so much under this influence, that cattle can remain

out all the winter, and snow never lies for any length

of time.

In the month of January, under the influence of a

northerly wind, the temperature of these high plains may

be lowered to a maximum of — 19° F. for a day or two,

but then a Chinook wind sets in, and within a week

we find readingfs of 45° and 50°. At the eastern foot 48 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS, [chap.

of the mountain region the influence of this wind is

at its maximum, but passing westward, we hear of the

Chinook wind bringing a warm temperature in the

Columbia valley and even on the western slopes of

the Selkirks. The great snow slides of the early spring

are set down to this influence. The moisture deposited on the ranges nearer to the West Coast, must be the

cause of this early rise in temperature. Most moun-

tain countries experience winds of this nature ; the

Fohn of Switzerland, and the hot winds of the Canter-

bury plains of New Zealand are exactly similar phenomena.

Now that the Canadian Pacific Railway has pene-

trated this region, its phenomena can be studied year

after year, and it is hard to realise that, till five short

years ago, it was one of the almost inaccessible

wildernesses of the great North West.

The exploration of these western wildernesses of

mountain and forest was for many years left to the

enterprise of the great Fur Companies; the Hudson's Bay and the North West Companies being the chief rivals in the field.

They established forts in the Indian country and

traded with the Crees, the Blackfeet and other tribes,

but the jealousy, which existed between the rival companies was more intense than we novv-a-days can well understand. The agents iu these forts were British subjects, for the most part Scotchmen, but those IV.] EARLY PIONEERS. 49 belonging to the one company would sometimes, with a whole horde of whooping Indians at their back go off on the war path, attack the other fort, burn it down and return triumphant with scalps. Then would follow reprisals backed by other tribes of Indians.

In some portions of the territories matters were on a better basis. For example, where one company was satisfied to hire professional bullies and locate them in a hut near the rival store, to teiTorise would-be traders from coming near it. In other cases the agents were content with swindling each other decently. But that the above state of affairs could exist at all is a strange fact in the history of civilization.

One of the earliest explorers of the region which we are now describing was David Thompson, who went out from England in 1789 in the employment of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1797 he left it to join the rival North-West Company, under which he now undertook a most wonderful series of explorations, extending from the Mississippi to the great Slave Lake and from Lake Superior to the

Pacific Ocean. In 1800 we find him exploring the

Rocky Mountains by the valley of the Bow river, and in 1808 he has established a fort on the Columbia lakes and is trading with the Kootenay Indians.

Almost all the early pioneering expeditions in these

North-West territories and British Columbia were led by Scotchmen, aided by French-Canadian voyagetirs, E 50 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. and nobly the work was done. Not only did Scotland send out fur traders, but also men like David Douglas, after whom the fine Douglas fir takes its name. He was a young Scotchman who came out under the auspices of the Royal Horticultural Society of London in 1824, and for ten years explored the great forests of the West, studying the birds, beasts, and plants. " To the botanical vocabulary of the time David Douglas added the names of over one thousand plants. Thus this devotee of birds and plants wandered among the forests of America, his pack on his back, and a shaggy terrier at his heels." ^ He was a man of plain speech, but on one occasion when staying at

Fort Kamloops very nearly lost his life for remarking to the brother Scot in command of the fort that " the Hud- son's Bay Company had not an officer with a soul above a beaver skin."

The pass across the Rocky Mountains in most frequent use for many years by the fur traders was that known as the Athabasca pass, connecting the northern bend of the Columbia with the eastern river basins. The pass used by the Canadian Pacific Railway was discovered by Dr. Hector, who accompanied Captain

Palliser's exploring expedition in 1858. It was called by Dr. Hector the Kicking Horse pass, after the river, on the banks of which, he received a kick from ahorse, which disabled him. As his discovery of this pass solved the

^ Bancroft, Hift. of K.]F, Coast. IV.] THE KICKING HORSE PASS. 51

question as to a practicable route across the mouutains for a railway, I give Dr. Hector's own words. He had

crossed the rancre to the westward, and was now seekino- a way back over the range. " August 29th. Reached the

mouth of a large tributary, to north-west. . . . Here I re-

ceived a severe kick in the chest from my horse,

rendering me senseless, and disabling me for some time. My recovery might have been much more tedious than

it was, but for the fact that we were now starving, and

I found it absolutely necessary to push on after two

days. On 31st August we struck up the valley of the

Kicking Horse river, travelling as fast as we could get

our jaded horses to go, and as I could bear the motion,

and on the 2nd of September reached the height of land." 1

This discovery of Dr. Hector's was thus commented

on by Captain Palliser, in his report to the British Government. " In that pass Dr. Hector had observed a peculiarity which distinguishes it from the others we had examined, viz. the absence of any abrupt step at the commencement of the descent to the west. This led him to report very favourably upon the focilitios offered by this pass for the construction of a waggon road, and even that the project of a railroad by this route across the Rocky Mountains might be reasonably entertained."

^ " Height of laud " a frequently-used term, meaning "Divide" or ' Watershed." E 2 52 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [ch. iv.

No railway had then been made to link ocean with ocean, and it seems most suitable that now after thirty years the pass should for the future bear Dr

Hector's own name, instead of one recalling the memory of his misfortune.

Time went on, other lines crossed the continent, and Great Britain could not be behindhand in enter- prises of this nature. Many passes through the Rockies were explored. The Kicking Horse pass could not be beaten, but then there was the Selkirk range beyond. Mr. Walter Moberly had here been the chief explorer, but the raihvay difficulty was at last solved in 1883 by Major Rogers discovering the pass bearing his name, and also a pass through the Gold range to the westward, the last link necessary to connect ocean with ocean. Thus was Sir James Hector's suggestion of thirty years ago fulfilled, and the Canadian Pacific

Railway became an accomplished fact. CHAPTER Y.

There its dusky blue clusters The acouite spreads, There the pines slope, the cloud stripes Hung soft on their heads.

No life ! but at moments. The mountain bees hum,

I come, ye mountains !

Ye pine woods, I come ! JIatthew Arnold.

Leave Calgary. —Ascend the Rockies. —Steep descent. — Cross the Columbia. —In the Selkirks. —The trestle-bridges and snow sheds. —The great Illecellewaet glacier.

Our walk on the prairie had proved so delightfully refreshing, that when the Pacific Express arrived soon after midnight, and we had taken our places in the cars, we sank quickly into dream-laud, and did not wake up till the train was far into tlie bosom of tiie mountains. On awakening, the outlook seemed very beautiful. The Bow river, along the margin of which we ascended, flashed and sparkled in the morning sunshine. Wreaths of filmy golden mist hung around the sombre pine forest, Avhile above all, the mountains 54 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. rose on either hand in beetling cliffs and snowy summits.

It was a glorious morning, and to a lover of mountain scenery this first near glimpse of the Rocky

Mountains, resplendent in the golden light of the rising sun, was one of those experiences in life never to be forgotten. During our time of blissful uncon- sciousness we had passed Banff, where a very fine hotel has been built by the Canadian Pacific Railway, and were now drawing near to Castle Mountain station.

Here we paused at the water tank, and Mr. McArthur, Assistant Government Surveyor, to whom we had been commended by his chief at Ottawa, came on board the train, from his camp close by. He, with his assistant, was C7i ruute for the summit of the pass, from which he intended making a mountain ascent for surveying purposes. As he had been for two or three seasons engaged in the survey of this portion of the Rockies, he could give us much interesting information. As we rattled along, he pointed out the various mountains of importance, and said he would like to join us later on in an attempt to ascend Mount Lefroy (11,658 feet), the highest measured mountain in the portion of the

Rockies in British territory. Though our special work lay in the Selkirk range, the prospect of exploring some of the peaks of this eastern range seemed most agreeable, so we settled that morning before we parted, that I should leave enough time for this expedition on v.] A STEEP DESCENT. 55 our return journey, and give him due notice when to

expect us. Assuring us that we might trust all camp

arrangements to him, he and his companion left us at Hector pass for their mountain climb, and bidding

them ton voyage, we entered upon the most critical

portion of the whole line, the terribly steep descent

towards the Columbia valley. At the summit of the pass a huge locomotive with ten driving wheels, and weighing one hundred and

seventeen tons, was attached to the back of the

train, and trusting to its restraining power and to that

of eight extra men, who came on board the train to

help at screwing down the brakes attached to each car, we started at a cautiousl}^ slow pace down a gradient

of one in twenty-three. The Wapta river, in whose company we had to make our way to the Columbia, on

issuing from its lake on the summit of the pass, plunges

down in a series of cascades, descending 1,100 feet in

five miles. The railway track, being unable to descend

in this precipitate manner, clings to the steep precipices

of the mountain side and consequently is soon left

high above the valley. Across trestle-bridges spanning

deep ravines, and round sharp curves, we wound our

way, getting views from the windows of the train, or

better still, from the platform at the end of the car,

which Were sufficiently startling. Pinned on to the

face of the precipice, trusting in many places to

elaborate scaffoldings of pine trunks, built up from 56 AMOXG THE SELKIRK GLACIEES. [chap.

what seemed perilously insecure foundations, occasionally

resting on mere notches in the rocky walls, the track winds its way downwards to Field station at the foot of

Mount Stephen, and the level of the Wapta is once more reached.

Here the big locomotive left us to await the

arrival of the East-bound train, which with mighty puffings it had to shove up the steep incline to the summit. As it is impossible to take the heavy dining- cars through the mountains, three little inns have been built by the Railway Company, one at Field, one the " Glacier House," at the summit of the Selkirks, and one at North Bend on the Frazer river. Each of these has its refreshment room where excellent meals are served, and here at Field all the passengers betook themselves to breakfast. Porridge, broiled

salmon, beefsteak, omelette, and mountain air seemed

to go well together, and every one felt more happy when the conductor's cry of "All aboard," and the blast of the whistle resounding from the overhanging

cliffs warned us to resume our seats and continue on our way.

The views up lateral valleys to glacier-clad peaks, every moment attracted our attention, but our grandest mountain view was that of the Ottertail

range, to the south of the track. The peaks of this

range, composed of intrusive syenite, tower up in

sharp aiguilles, the hollows being filled with glacier ice. v.] THE WAPTA CANOX. 57

T commend them to all lovers of Alpine scenery for their grand outlines, and few things did we put aside with greater regret than a half-formed plan to break our return journey at Leancoil station and see more of the Ottertails.

Before the thoughts of scrambles among these grand peaks had given our minds a chance to think of anything else, we had shot into the canon of the

Wapta. The river roared between steep rock walls, almost splashing the train, which now disputed possession of the outlet which it had taken the river

ages to cut ; and as we rushed along, we seemed as if racing the torrent, in its headlong career towards the Columbia. Deeper and deeper we went from the light of day, the noise of the torrent and the rattle of the train blended into one loud roar, which echoed and re-echoed from the inclosing precipices rendering our voices inaudible. Scarcely a vestige of vegetation could find foothold in the dark gorfre. Nothincf but river and railway, smoke, spray, and steam.

Suddenly the light became stronger, the great roar was hushed, and we emerged from the savage

Wapta canon into the wide smiling valley of the Columbia.

We had descended from the regions of snow and ice into an almost tropical climate. The heat was intense, and to add to the resemblance of the tropics, mosquitoes set to work upon us with the greatest 58 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. avidity. A few hundred yards from the canon the train came to a stand at Golden City,

This place consists of two inns, a store and a number of log houses. It owes its importance to its being the lower termination of the navigable portion of the upper Columbia, into which river the Wapta pours its turbid waters. The houses stand on low ground which, with a wide area of gravel sparsely covered with bushes extending to the Columbia, formed at some time the bed of the Wapta, and will if we mistake not ere long be claimed by the river again. The natural action of such a torrent which for forty miles comes leaping and dashing down the mountain side, fully charged with dShris, is to deposit that debris very rapidly in this its first period of comparative rest. When the river finds a depression it immediately seizes on it as a channel.

The silting up of its new bed commences at once, so that soon what was a depression ceases to be one, and the river bursts off in some new direction seeking fresh channels. The inhabitants of Golden

City fondly imagine that a little raising of the banks will keep the river to its course. No, not if its banks were built up till they topped the roofs of the present houses, could such a river be restrained for more than a very limited period. Those who would

" build for aye " had better betake themselves and

their houses to the high ground above the railway. v.] ASCENDING THE SELKIRKS. 59

In 1884 Golden City bore such an evil reputation that H. and his companions when passing on their journey, had given it a wide berth, and camped further down the Columbia. These wild days of its youth are over. We spent two safe and comfortable nights in Golden City when en ronte for the Columbia lakes. A twenty miles' run down the valley of the Columbia gave us ample time to study the flanks of the Selkirk range, which rose in gi'eat swells of unbroken forest on the farther side of the river. The higher j)eaks were not yet visible, and it was only here and there, above mountains of pine forest, that we got glimpses of snowy peaks. When we stopped to change engines at Donald, we made the acquaintance of Mr. Marpole. superintendent of the Selkirk section of the railway, and to whom we were afterwards much indebted for the kind help he afforded us in our work. From

Donald we made our first crossing of the majestic Columbia, which swept steadily on in swirling eddies, with broken reflections here and there of the dark cedars and firs. Following the river for a few miles further, until it broke into foaming rapids, we turned sharply into the ravine of Beaver Creek, and commenced our ascent of the Selkirks. The magnificence of the forest was wonderful. It was composed of cedar and spruce and the huge hemlock, which latter predominated as we increased our elevation. 60 AMOXG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap

Higher and higher we crept along the mountain side, gradually leaving the Beaver far below. Deep ravines cleft by glacier streams, foaming down, half choked with fallen logs, were spanned by lofty trestle- bridges. One of these which we crept slowly over was Mountain Creek bridge, and Ave went still more slowly over those portions of the track which were laid in shallow cuttings in the loose debris which lay

at a hi^h angrle on the mountain side. We could see

showers of gravel shaking down as the train passed.

Then we came to the most wonderful bridge of all, spanning Stony Creek, at the prodigious height of

295 feet above the torrent, chiefly supported by one

tall pillar of trestle work, rising straight up from the

bottom of the ravine, and a smaller one which is

secured to the sloping side of the chasm.

The one thing which spoiled the prospect, as we

looked from the platform of the car, was the charred

and burnt forest. In some places the timber was

destroyed all the way from the railway down to the

river and up to the mountain summits beyond. There

was no sign of fire at present, for the weather up to

this had been wet, but grey and black branchless

trunks stood up as ghastly records of the fires which had raged during the previous autumn. Some of these

trunks were of vast size, eight to ten feet in diameter

at the butt, and probably over 150 feet high. The

action of the fire was peculiar : in most places the bark

' A series of snow-sheds." —P. CI. v.] SNOW-SHEDS. 61 was burnt off, and then the fire seemed to eat its way up through the centre, hollowing out the whole trunk. Later on we saw only too much of these destroying

fires ; now the air was clear of smoke, and as the higher peaks came into view every crag and crevice was easily discernible.

At a station called Bear Creek, where the valley forked, we left the Beaver, and following the valley of the Bear the train had to pass through a series of snow-sheds. On emerging from these we found our-

selves in the wonderful defile between Mounts Tupper and Macdonald, whose great precipices rose so ver-

tically, that we could only see to the top of

the precipice opposite by leaning far out of the windows. As we crept round the base of Mount

Tupper and entered Rogers pass, our prospect was sadly interfered with by snow-shedding. We no sooner were out of one snow-shed, and had got merely a

glimpse of the magnificent scenery through which we

were passing, when we went into another. These

sheds are built of massive timber-work, all tongued

and morticed together, and as there are many miles of

them the total cost up to the present has been over

1,000,000 dollars. Besides the snow-sheds ponderous wooden bastions

called "cribs" or "glances," have been constructed ujd

the mountain side to deflect the avalanches, and turn

them into the direction in which they can do the least 62 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. possible harm. During our stay in the mountains these were being extended, and new ones erected in all directions.

The snow difficulties are much greater in the

Selkirks than in the Rockies ; in the latter range the engineers have been able to manaoe without sheddine:, but here, owing to the heavier snowfall and also to the difference in the structure of the mountain pass through which the railway makes its way, this great additional outlay has been necessary.

We halted in the centre of a grand amphitheatre of rocky aiguilles and glaciers at Rogers pass. This is not only a " station," which in most cases means little else than a watering tank for the engine, but has a considerable number of wooden houses grouped together and inhabited for the most j^art by Chinamen, also by section men connected with the railway ; by employes of the contractors for the snow-sheds, d hoc genus omnc.

Like all these embryo back-of-the-world villages the general observer would fail to find much that was beautiful, either in art or in morals, and the tendency of the inhabitants is to quote Scripture profusely in a sense totally different from what one attaches to it in church. We were glad that we had not to make this place our head-quarters. Four miles further we had to travel, the scenery becoming grander at every curve. Then the train halted at the " Glacier House," our cumbrous luggage was tumbled out on the v.] "GLACIER HOUSE." 63 platform, aud our long journey by rail was ended. It seemed a very long day since we left Calgary, though it was now but 8 p.m. In that day of fourteen hours we had left the prairie, ascended and descended the Rocky

Mountains, crossed the noble Columbia, ascended to and passed over the summit of the Selkirks, and now Avere, in company with all the other passengers, quite ready for dinner. When this was disposed of, and the train, with our late companions, gone on its way down the valley of the Illecellewaet,^ we had plenty of time to take a look round, and as Glacier House was to be our head- quarters for the next six weeks, we must try and give some idea of it and its surroundings.

Glacier House, built on exactly the same plan as the little inns at Field in the Rockies, and at North Bend on the Frazer, is somewhat in the Swiss chalet style and possesses, besides the large salle a manger where dinner is served to the passengers of the Atlantic and Pacific express trains which meet here every day, six or seven small but snug bedrooms. One of these we took for ourselves. Another was soon afterwards occupied by Mr.

Bell-Smith, a well-known Canadian artist, and the other rooms were occasionally, during our time, filled by guests who stopped off the train for the night and resumed their journey next day. Sometimes they stayed longer, and some most interesting people were amongst those we met. Some weeks no one came, and then again the

^ Pronounced " Illy-silly-wat," meaning " Rushing Water." 64 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

little inn was overflowing. On one occasion when we

returned from an absence of several days in the moun-

tains, we found that besides our room being occupied

our two spare tents had also been pitched to give suf-

ficient accommodation. After that a sleeping-car was

brought up and left permanently on a siding, to accom- modate the occasional overflow from the house.

The hospitable manager, Mr. Perley, his wife, and

their little niece Alice, about nine years of age;

Mr. Hume, the secretary, the French cook and his

assistant Chinaman, three capital waitresses and the

" boy," made up the staff. Another man, " Charlie,"

belonged specially to the railway, his chief business

being to watch the white stones round the fountains

which played in front of the verandah.

These white stones were nothing more than pieces

of common vein quartz, broken up to trim the edges

of the little ponds ; but so impressed were the numerous emigrants who went westward, with ihe

idea that quartz meant gold, that whenever the trains

stopped men, women, and children, pounced on these white sttmes, and would have left not one but for the vigilance of "Charlie." It was a perfect farce sometimes to watch a man sneaking round with

his eye on the custodian, tiying to steal one small piece, and the very fact of their being so guarded served to enhance their value. The live stock on the premises consisted of a black bear cub, which at v.] THE ILLECELLEWAET VALLEY. 65 first made night horrible by squeahng for its mother, but nevertheless was a most intelligent, playful and amusing little animal. Little Alice and the bear were great friends, and until it got too heavy she used to carry it about in her arms. Then there was her cat, some fowl and "Jeff," a most friendly dog, always ready to join in any expedition. Among the various traits and vestiges of ancestry which he exhibited that of Gordon setter predominated.

So much for Glacier House. It would be impossible to give any adequate idea of the magnificence of its surroundings ; we must however make the attempt. On leaving E-ogers pass the railway commences to descend the valley of the Illecellewaet, but as the river plunges down with a rapidity quite impossible for the railway to follow, the latter has to seek a gentler gradient by availing itself of the lateral valleys, to make wide loops and curves. Glacier

House is situated just at the sharpest curve of one of these loops, Avhere the line runs up nearly to the base of a great glacier, and sweeping round, crosses the glacier torrent on a trestle-bridge, and returns to the main valley. That portion of the line opposite the

inn is provided with snow-sheds for winter travelling; but to enable passengers to see the scenery, a summer track has been constructed close outside

the sheds. The valley below the track, and for a considerable distance, sometimes as much as 2,000 F 66 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIEES. [chap.

feet above it, is clothed in primeval forest. Huge

cedars, pines, and firs draped with curtains of grey

lichen makes up the great mass of the forest, and shelters almost impenetrable undergrowth, travelling through which is rendered all the more difficult, o wing-

to the innumerable fallen trees in every stage of decay,

Down through the forest above the track, a cascade tumbles in a series of leaps of silvery foam for over

1,000 feet. A pipe from this cascade fills our fountain and supplies the bath-room, which proved

no small luxury after days of hard travel. Above the forest-clad slopes, precipices almost we might call them, and rising above the top of the waterfall, the crags of Eagle peak stand up 5,000 feet from the track. Running our eye along this high rocky rampart, towards the right, that is towards the south, we behold the huge obelisk of Sir Donald 10,629 feet high, the face towards us a sheet of bare rock inaccessible to man or beast. Sharp jagged aretes meet it on either hand and suggest possibilities of ascent.

Farther to the right the lower part of the arSie loses itself in a saddle of snow-covered glacier which forms the sky-line for about a mile. From this saddle, which we have called the Great Illecellewaet

Neve, descends in a single plunge of over 2,500 feet a fine glacier of pure white ice.

The upper portion of the fall is split up into innumerable s^racs, the crevasses showing like lines v.] THE GREAT ILLECELLEWAET GLACIER. 67 of blue and delicate green in a surface of silvery white. No moraine pollutes its surface, and it reminded us of the Rhone glacier in its general character.

Further to the right, a ridge, clothed with forest nearly to its summit, separates the valley filled with this fine glacier from another which extends for four miles into the mountains, and then all view from Glacier

House is stopped by the forest rising immediately at the rear. We must now turn to the left, and there looking out into the main valley and beyond it, Mount

Cheops, the Grizzly range, and Mount Hermit rise above the forest in purple crags, bearing great bosses of glacier ice.

Dark green forest, rushing streams, purple peaks, silvery ice, a cloudless sky, and a most transparent atmosphere, all combine to form a jjerfect Alpine paradise.

Having stowed our heavy luggage in a room set apart for that purpose, there were yet several hours of a fine summer evening to be disjDosed of, so we started for a walk to the glacier in company with three gentlemen who were staying at the inn over night.

A good path, like many a one in Switzerland, had been cut through the forest. Ferns, yellow lilies,^ and

many other bright flowers enlivened the margin of the

glacier stream, as it foamed in wild music over its rough

boulder bed. First we crossed, by a firm rustic bridge,

^ Erythronium minor (Macouii). F 2 68 AMONG THE SELKIEK GLACIERS. [chap.

the stream coming from the long valley headed by

the Asulkan glacier. From this to the next bridge,

which spanned the river from the larger glacier, the path

lay amidst the huge boulders of an ancient moraine,

left by the glaciers from the two forks of the valley,

which here met in the days gone by. The forest which

until quite lately had covered the moraine, we found utterly demolished by a recent avalanche, which had

evidently fallen from the direction of Mount Sir

Donald. The hemlock, balsam, and Douglas firs, though

as stout as ship's masts, had been snapped off close to

their roots ; some were torn up and driven long dis-

tances from where they grew, and lay in heaps, bait

the general position of the trunks pointed distinctly to

the direction from which the destroying avalanche had

come. Even the boulders of the moraine showed signs

of having been shifted, some of them were huge blocks

of quartzite, one I measured was 50 X 83 X 24 feet. No better illustration could be presented of the over- whelming power of an avalanche, though composed of nothing else than the accumulation of a winter's snow.

Crossing the second bridge the path made a few zig-

zags up through the forest, and then skirted the hill-

side through meadows of coarse grasses and the large

succulent-leaved Vcratrum viride, a most striking and characteristic plant in all these valleys, wherever the heavy forest or the alder scrub fails to establish itself.

From this place the path forks, one track leads across 'The forest we found utterly dcmolislied liy a retciiL av.ilain hi,. " 1'. v.] FOREST SUCCEEDING GLACIER. 69 the boulders to the foot of the glacier, crossing innumerable streams of milky water. The other con- tinues up through alder scrub to the higher slopes, commanding fine views over the ice with its blue fissures and crevasses.

H. and I chose the upward path. Mounting rapidly, and crossing a stream coming down in a cascade from the glaciers to the left, we reached the farthest limit of the path, and sat down to study the scene. The pine forest, though extending for over 1,000 feet on the mountain sides, above the lower portion of the glacier, ceased in front of its terminal face at a distance of about half a mile. This was evidence of the retreat and shrinking of the glacier.

The pines, where the forest ceased abruptly, were at least twenty years old, the space between them and the ice being covered by alders. The advance of the forest in the track of the glacier does not seem to be in direct proportion to the rate of its retreat and the age of the trees. The rate at which the glacier bed can crumble itself, and be prepared by the leaf mould formed by the alders for the growth of pines and firs, is a process so slow that pines have time to grow to full age, and fall, and rot, before the soil ahead is prepared for their advance. Not only here, but in many other valleys we were in, the same thing was noticeable. The alders thrive where there seems to be little or no soil, and they can also, owing to their pliancy, hold their TO AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [ch. v. own in avalanche tracks, "where the stout pines would be utterly smashed up. However useful the alders may be in performing these offices in the economy of nature, they form an almost impenetrable jungle, and one of the greatest obstacles to travel that it is possible to imagine.

On the steepest slopes they grow^ downward, and after a few feet turn upwards to the light. Scrambling through their stems thus involves stepping over a selection of stiff springing branches, and stooping sufficiently low to get j'ourself and your pack under the next branch above. You can, when in such scrub, but seldom get your feet on the solid ground, so a slide downwards, and a sudden wrench on your arms, in trying to check your descent, is a matter of constant recurrence.

As the shades of evening were closing in we thought it wise to return to our quarters. Having wandered a little beyond the path we missed it for some distance, and got our first experience of trying to take a " bee- line " through the alders. The first blood was drawn, the first skin knocked off our shins, before we reached our supper and bed. Yet we went to sleep with the

satisfaction that no time had been wasted ; for we had taken our first walk in the Selkirks on the 19th day after leaving Queenstown. CHAPTER VI.

" On the over- worked soil

Of this planet, enjoyment is sharpened by toil ; And one seems by the pain of ascending a height To have conf|uercd a claim to the wonderful sight." Owen Meredith.

Our map. —First climbs. —Packing. —View from arete of Mount Sir Donald.

Of the peaks encircling and within sight of Glacier House, some had names. These soon became familiar to us, but of what lay beyond the ridges forming the sky-line, no one could give us the faintest idea. Mr. Hume, the assistant manager of Glacier House, had accompanied some gentlemen during the winter, on a snow-shoe expedition to the head of the

Asulkan valley, and obtained a view of the ranges beyond, but his ideas of the topography were not very clear. Few people, accustomed to visit Switz- erland, where accurate maps are found ready to hand, by which they can unravel the mtize of ranges and valleys seen from a mountain top, can have any con- 72 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIEES. [chap.

ception of the difficulties of forming a definite picture

of a rugged country which has never been mapped

out, where one's outlook is closed in by higher moun-

tains, and where but little disconnected bits of valley

are visible. The riddle we had undertaken to solve was the structure of that section of country lying im-

mediately to the south of the Canadian Pacific railway track and inclosed by the highest peaks of the Selkirks.

During the first couple of weeks' work, nothing seemed

to develop clearly. Then the scene began to take

shape, and when the time came for us to leave the

mountains, we found it hard to recall those first feelings

of bewilderment, so familiar had the mountains,

glaciers and valleys become.

In undertaking any topographical survey, the first thing

to decide is,—On what scale shall we make our map ? For many reasons we came to the conclusion that four

inches to the mile would be sufficiently large on which

to put down all the details of importance. The next

step is to measure a line which shall form a base for our

first triangle. If a base-line of one mile is measured,

the picture of that on the map is a line of four

inches, and thus the scale of the map is fixed ; all other

..distances being in equal proportion.

In great trigonometrical surveys, such as that of

Great Britain and Ireland ; the measurement of the base-

Une is of such importance that it is done with micro-

scopic accuracy. In our case such minute accuracy VI.] SURVEYING DIFFICULTIES. 73 would have been impossible, so we were content with a measurement made with our steel wire one-eighth of a mile long.

One engineer said to me, "But surely with such a measurement you must allow for the expansion and contraction of the wire with varying temperature." All

I can say is that I made no such allowance. The temperature of the day when I measured the wire and of those on which I used it, did not differ much over 10°, certainly not 20°, and if there is no greater inaccuracy in our location of peaks than the error arising from the expansion and contraction of our wire I am satisfied.

A much more fruitful source of error arises from the difficulty of always being certain that you are observing the same particular knob, on a mountain summit, when seen from different points of view. This is particularly the case when the peak occupies a plane much above the point of observation. In a mountain survey therefore the points fixed from the highest elevations are the most reliable.

When breakfast was disposed of on July 18th, we packed the plane table on our shoulders and set off

for the opposite side of the valley ; the top of the snow sheds there, being the only kvel place where it seemed possible to measure a straight line of over a hundred yards in length. There was even here a slight gradient (which was unfortunate), but as no better spot could be found, we measured 660 yards and set up a 74 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. pole, with flags at either end. The flag at No. 2 station was a piece of newspaper, and as it fluttered from its staff for over a week, some idea may be formed of the great calmness which prevails in these mountain valleys. From points at either end of our base-line we

fixed a third station, at the opposite side of the loop

made by the railway, and took, on the plane table, bearings of all the peaks in view, made profile sketches and photographed them, assigning them numbers for

future identification. To accomplish all this took the

greater part of the day, and as the sun was shining with intense heat and mosquitoes were biting like

fury, we were not sorry when it was completed.

The cascade which forms such a feature in the view

from Glacier House is no small source of difficulty to

the railway people, as it objects to be controlled in

any way. A bridge has been built for it to

go under, but with the true spirit of freedom it uses

the bridge only occasionally, and just then was with

much hilarity dashing right down on the railway and

knocking away all foundation from the track. By

balancing ourselves carefully on the rails we crossed it

without much difficulty; and H. lay down with his

chest on the rail to regale himself with a drink. Sud-

denly, to my horror, a freight train, coming down the

gradient, swejDt round the curve. Men stood on the

roof of every car screwing down the brakes. The whistle was evidently blowing, but the cascade drowned VI.] A NARROW ESCAPE. 75

all other sound. I shouted to H. " Here's the train."

He took no notice ! There was no time to speak

twice; but at the very last instant he perceived

the danger and rolled himself aside just as the

train roared past. After this we were careful not to

lie down with our heads on the main track again. Having completed our preliminary observations, the

next object was to reach some of the higher points

we had observed, and so extend our survey. The peak separating the great glacier from the Asulkan valley seemed the most central, so next morning, July 19th,

we started for our first climb, carrying the plane table and a half plate camera.

A short distance from the inn, and just beyond

where the forest had been demolished by the great

avalanche, we left the path and struck straight

up the mountain side through the heavy timber.

After the inaction of the voyage, and the long rail-

way journey, we were of course in no kind of training,

so the steep ascent had to be taken slowly ; and as our shoulders ached under the packs, we were com-

pelled to rest pretty often ; in spite of the mosquitoes, who seized on these moments for most furious onslaughts.

Fallen timber lay in every stage of decay, covered partially with rhododendron and blueberry bushes. The whole ascent was one continuous scramble, the bushes sivinsf us the means of hauling ourselves ;

76 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. upward. For 2,000 feet we ascended through forests so dense that no distant view was possible. Nothing was visible but the huge stems of the hemlock and balsam firs. At an elevation of 2,000 feet above the railway the trees become more gnarled and dwarfish in shady hollows we came on patches of snow, the melting of which furnished us with a drink, for which we were famishing after three hours of climbing, under the close heat of the forest.

Next we came to some grass slopes, and after a scramble over great heaps of shattered rocks, composed chiefly of a conglomerate which cropped out at a gentle angle dipping to the south-west, we reached the knoll forming the apex of a triangle which we had plotted on the previous evening. Though not actually the summit of the ridge, it was a good clearly-marked position, commanding a splendid view of

Sir Donald and all the surrounding mountains, and according to hypsometrical and barometrical measurement was 3,500 ft. above the level of the railway line at Glacier House. We remained here for two and a half hours, taking observations, photographing, collecting specimens of antennaria (something like edelweiss) and other flowers, which were just showing their heads amongst the rocks where the snow was melting. Look- ing eastward the great fall of the glacier formed a fine foreground, and beyond it Sir Donald rose in bare precipices. VI.] A MOUNTAIN DESCENT. 77

We scanned these walls of rock most carefully, to see what chance there might be of ascending the peak, but decided that, from our present point of view, no possible route was apparent. We were, however, able to plan an ascent of the further margin of the glacier, to the great swell of nev^ which rose higher than our present level, and by ascending which we might get round to the south of Sir Donald, and possibly find some practicable route in that direction. Having made what notes we could and enjoyed a respite from the mosquitoes, we commenced our descent. A short scramble over rocks and a glissade on a snow slope, brought us to the margin of the forest, through which we plunged and slid, and scrambled, knocking a good deal more skin off our shins and tear- ing sundry reefs in our garments. It was not easy to keep to the track by which we had ascended, consequently we soon found ourselves amongst precipitous rocks clad in moss and fern, and as rich in London pride and other saxifrages as some well-known spots in the hills of Kerry. We had to skirt these precipices and find some way or other down through them. They were not high, for the tops of the pines growing at their foot mingled with the lower branches of those growing above. The jolting of the packs of instruments on our shoulders, unused for long- time to such work, was tiresome in the extreme, but at last we had descended 3,000 feet and were in the 78 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. more level forest. Selecting the best line we could, we made our way out on to the open boulders of the ancient moraine, and taking a course through the d4hris of the great avalanche, we reached the path, and in a few minutes were enjoying a refreshing warm bath at our hotel. Our ascent proved most helpful in making future plans, and as I had now material enough to commence on, I devoted all the following forenoon to plotting out our observations. H. meanwhile went off down into the valley below the railway to hunt up the route he had followed in 1884 and take a few photographs. Before we could attempt any distant expedition, help in the way of porters of some sort was essential. We had asked Mr. Marpole, the superintendent at Donald, to try and get us a pack-horse. Late on Sunday night we heard the whistle of a locomotive, and next morning found that it had brought us a good-looking cayeuse, or Indian pony, which promised to be a useful helper, long scars on its flanks showing that it had already seen service in the mountains. Ever since our arrival we were engaged in correspondence with people most likely to find packers for us. Our letters and telegrams proved abortive—one very good man we had written to would have come but that he had just taken another job, he lived on the eastern slope of the Rockies.

Then at Donald some mighty hunter was discovered "

VI.] A PERILOUS ADVENTURE. 79

who expressed a desire to join us and accepted our terms, but when he heard we were two parsons he

"chucked it up" in disgust, saying that he would

have to knock off swearing for over a month and that

that was utterly impossible. A man v.'hile we were at Glacier House undertook to guide an American

party up the glacier. One of the gentlemen pointed

out to me the route they proposed to follow, it was beset with great dangers which none of them seemed

to realise. Their guide carried an American axe over

his shoulder and their lunch under his arm. I asked

him what he wanted with the axe, he said " To cut

steps !

Not wishing to pose as general adviser I said nothing, but offered my ice-axe to the elder gentleman, the younger having decided on taking his gun. So off

they set. A few hours later they came back thoroughly scared. The "guide" had slipped and was

within a hairsbreadth of losing his life. The axe

and the lunch vanished into a crevasse, never more to

be seen, and the gentleman who had my axe slid

seventy feet, and would have been into a crevasse

but for the axe, which fortunately for me and for himself he held on to like a man. That "guide" was

a very good fellow in many ways, but after this

adventure he considered glaciers were not in his line. Now that we had the horse we determined to make

a move, and our first thoughts lay in the direction 80 AMOXG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

of Mount Sir Donald. To explore the side we had not yet seen, that facing the south-east, was our object. On Monday July 23rd we selected camp material

and provisions, and invited Mr. Hume, the secretary, to join us in our climb. When the trains had come and gone and the mid-day meal was over we were ready to start. Charlie too was able to abandon his care of the white stones, and came to lead the horse back when we reached the furthest point possible

for him to go.

The cayeuse was now sent for to his stable and we commenced to pack. No easy matter was this packing, for no pack-saddle had come with the beast, so we had to do our best with a riding saddle. We adopted a plan that I had used most successfully in New Zealand ; laying a canvas hammock across the saddle, we placed a pack on each side, turned up and fixed the ends of the hammock at the top, and this, with a synch or belly-band round it, does fairly well on a pinch.

The horse had however his own notions as to

packing ; he turned round the whites of his eyes, most suspiciously laid down his ears, and the moment the pack touched him, he backed, kicked, and lashed out in an alarming manner. After much coaxing on our part and kicking and biting on his, we fitted the packs on and started up the valley, in Indian file. H. and I carried our rifles, and on our backs. VI.] A HORSE'S DIVERSION. 81

knapsacks containing the surveying instruments,

cameras, &c. All went well for a mile, and as the

horse was going along as quietly as a cow and the

evening was warm, I saw no harm in hitching my

knapsack on the pack. H, also relieved himself of

his heavy rifle, and we walked on happily, through the

meadows of veratrum, up by the east bank of the

glacier. The path was getting steep and the pack

seemed to need bracing up. Some idea of a similar

nature must have crossed the mind of the cayeuse, for

without the slightest warninj^, he took a sudden fit of

buck-jumping, tumbled down, rolled over and over

down the slope, and when our goods were thoroughly

mashed up and scattered to the winds, he got on his

legs and shook himself with apparent satisfaction. It was really too horrible—I rushed to my unfortunate knapsack. If the man from Donald had been with

us I think I'd have given him permission to swear

for five minutes without stopping, and so vicariously relieve my over-burthened mind. A sextant, fortu-

nately not a new one, was smashed to bits. I picked

up its little ivory scale all by itself on a bush. A thermometer which had been carefully tested at Kew

was in shivers. I could not look at my photographic

plates then, and concluded they were all broken.

Fortunately however they escaped ; the rifle too came

off all right. But oh ! what fools we felt at having

been taken in by the deceitful calm of that cayeuse's G 82 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. temper. We all made good resolutions on the spot, and

kept them so far as never again to trust any instrument

to the tender mercy of a horse.

After this piece of diversion was over, the cayeuse

seemed quite satisfied, and allowed us to pack the load again and proceed on our way. On reaching a stream,

descending from the high glacier on our left, we con-

sidered that the horse could go no further, so taking the packs on our own shoulders, we sent Charlie home with

the nag. "Jeff" the dog had come with us so far, and

now refused to return. We did not want his company at all, but there was no getting rid of him. Fording the cascade we ascended into some forest, beyond which a fine waterfall, formed by a stream breaking out from the side of the great glacier, fell vertically about one hundred feet over a rocky cliff. Not having explored the way ahead, we lost some time seeking out a site for our tent, but after an hour's scrambling over the boulders near the fall, we found a level hollow in the forest not far from the top of the waterfall, where

throwing down our packs we lighted a fire, pitched the

tent, and made ourselves snug for the night. While cooking supper the smoke kept the mosquitoes away

and the netting kept the tent safe from them, but

our necks and hands were in hills and hollows from

bites. H. said that he had a complete model of the Rocky Mountains round his neck.

Owing to our late start it was quite dark before vl] early morning on the glacier. 83

supper was finished and we were ensconced in our

sleeping-bags, trying to sleep. Poor " JefF" seemed to be much troubled by mosquitoes, we could hear him snapping at them, and his low whining howl now and

then suggested either bears or mosquitoes, we knew not which.

We got up before dawn, lighted the fire, fried the

bacon, made our tea ; and when breakfast was over we

carefully extinguished the fire, and at 4 A.M. started upwards. A few yards from our camp we emerged from the forest and commenced a loncpO scramble over a waste of huge boulders.

Though the opposite side of the valley and the

upper swells of the glacier were touched by the golden

beams of the sunrise, we still enjoyed the cool shade

of night.

The valley far below was hidden in filmy white

mist, the chatter of the streams and subdued boom of the waterfall made sweet mountain music. Occa- sionally the harmony was broken by the loud crash of

a falling sdrac on the glacier, or the wild, shrill whistle of a hoary marmot. A cry so wild and strange that

we were startled by it in our earlier climbs, but we

soon got used to it, and now I can never think of one

of these wild valleys without the cry of this large

marmot sounding in my ears. There were a number of other animals living in these boulder heaps, and

"Jeff" was death on them all, at least so far as his G 2 84 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. hopes and imagination went. He was off, charging over the boulders the moment a whistle sounded, but as the animals generally gave their cry of alarm at the mouths of their burrows, they were pretty safe from

"Jeff," and he most successfully prevented our having any chance of a shot at them. We wished "Jeff" in the happy hunting grounds, where, no doubt, marmots have no burrows to retreat into. After an hour's ascent over these great boulder heaps, we reached the first slope of snow, and as there was no likelihood of any game higher up, H. cached his rifle. Snow slopes and boulders alternated for another hour, then came a steep snow ascent, and at 8 a.m. we reached Perley rock. This rock formed an islet in the ice-world

close to shore, and was covered with sparse vegetation ; some pretty heaths suggested firing should such be required. Above this we were fairly on the glacier, and as crevasses were visible we put on the rope. The view ahead was confined by the rising- swells of ice. The view backwards and away over endless ranges to the north and west was wonderfully beautiful. We had now turned the south-western shoulder of

Sir Donald, and while ascending some very steejj slopes where we had to cut steps in the hard frozen surface, we were able to turn away to the eastward, thus getting towards his southern face. The slopes now became more gentle, so we sat on our axe-heady for a few VI.] A SNOW SLOPE. 85 minutes to rest, and " Jefif" sat on his tail, nothing daunted. Sometimes he followed in the steps, and then he would try a rush up the slope, and with much scratching and many slides downwards, return once more to the slow and sure method of ascent. We had now got into a regular bay in the back of Sir Donald ; a rock m^ete ran down to the south-east, and another to the south-west. The summit of the main peak looked quite close over the apex where these aretes met, so we faced up for the tongue of glacier which filled the bay, and sloped up to the crest of the north- west arete. There was of course a bergschrund across the foot of this ascent, and another big crevasse a little way up. Before tackling this slope, which promised some tough work, we halted for lunch, and cached a small tin of meat. The bergschrund gave us no trouble as it was well bridged, so we worked up for the crevasse. On reaching its lower lip we found we had to follow it along towards a bridge to our left, and this

brought us right over the most open portion of the

schrund below, so we had to go very cautiously. The

slope was steep, and every bit of snow we dislodged

went singing away into the abyss below. The snow

was soft and we were able to kick well into it, but

in two places it had recently slid, which was another

cause for anxiety. As for '"' Jeff" the grip was just

right for him. I only envied him in his blissful un-

consciousness of schrunds and crevasses. He was wiser 86 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

however in these matters than we could have imagined,

as we learned later on. A few hundred feet of slope, and the crest was reached. Here the snow curled over into a cornice

and overhung the great bare smooth precipices, down

which our view extended to the lower glaciers in the

hollows of Sir Donald, and still farther down to the

dark pine forest, and the railway, like a tiny hair-line,

winding about through the valley 5,000 feet below us. As yet our prospects of reaching the main peak were uncertain, so we tackled the snow arete leading to

crags where this south-west ridge met that runuing down to the south-east. The view beyond these ridges was completely unknown. Anxiety as to what that unknown side of the mountain was like hastened our steps upward.

I had to cut a few steps, for the icy cold wind on the ridge kept the snow frozen. Then the axe cHnked on the lichen-covered quartzite crags, and in an instant the anxiously expected panorama opened before us.

We were on a pinnacle of rock, according to the barometer just 10,000 feet above the sea. On all sides were vast precipices, and down these precipices our eyes ranged to the green, forest-clad valley of Beaver

Creek, the river being visible for many miles, winding with an infinity of curves 6,000 feet below us.

Beyond the river rose a range of hills with flattish VI.] VIEW FROM MOUNT SIR DONALD. 87 plateaux on the top, flecked with soow. Still further to the eastward, range rose upon range, fading into purple and blue. Above them all, the Rockies, bearing silvery white glaciers, formed a sharply defined sky-line, and were visible for over 150 miles. This wonderful panorama constituted our view to the eastward. To the southward it was totally different ; in that direction the undulating fields of glacier lay like a great soft white blanket, covering up everything for ten miles, beyond which other snow-seamed crags rose, rivalling, probably in some cases surpassing. Sir Donald in elevation. To the westward other ranges were to be seen, and one huge ridge of black precipices capped

by ice rose high above the glacier and seemed to dominate the scene. Its foot was separated from us by

two intervening ranges, and appeared so difficult of access that we felt but a very faint hope of some

day reaching it. This mountain we named after

Professor Bonney, and we afterwards scaled it suc-

cessfully.

Beyond the valley of the Illecellewaet to the north-

west, some fine peaks were visible ; one dark, bare

rock pinnacle bearing north-west, was most striking,

and no doubt over 10,000 feet high. Our view to the

northward was blocked by the last great crag of Sir

Donald, from which we were cut off by a notch

200 feet deep. At its bottom a narrow rock are^e joined

the precipice below us with the face of the final peak. 88 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

Below this aritc on one side lay the glacier visible from Glacier House, and on the eastern side in a deep hollow, a fine glacier which we named the Sir

Donald glacier, commenced its course, and flowed out-

wards in beautiful fan-like structure, in the direction of

Beaver Creek. The cliffs rising at the farther side of this

latter glacier, that is in the great buttress supporting-

Sir Donald from the valley of the Beaver, were so

steep that not a speck of snow clung to them. Had we had a rope about 200 feet long, we could have descended from our perch and then easily crossed by the little connecting wall to the main peak, but the face of it looked about as inaccessible a piece of rock as any climber could wish to see. There were a few cracks and ledges which may one day be used by some one, but

" the quest was not for me." During our ascent we had been more troubled by

heat than by cold ; now however a strong icy wind blew from the north-west. H.'s hat, or rather one of

mine that he had affected, fluttered off' cheerfully to Beaver Creek, and when we came to the plane table-

work I had to slap my arms to get life into my fingers.

As the summit we w^ere on is a little peak plainly

visible from Glacier House, we fixed a red handker-

chief to a crag, and having secured nine photographs, began the descent.

In taking the first snow steps we had to go back-

wards carefully, as it would not do to slip; the \

VI.] "JEFF" IN DIFFICULTIES. \ 89 background to our feet, as we cautiously \Vatched them safe into the steps, being the valley o^^f the lUecellewaet, 6,000 feet below. As I was the lai^t in the descent I buried my axe deep, and watched to keep the rope tight, H. cleared the steps below. ]\Jr_

Hume was in the middle, and "Jeff" kept just abovip,

me, with his nose held low and his legs spread out .

wide. He wished, I think, to get a grip with his tail ' too, but as that was impossible, he satisfied himself \ with the fact that he could not slide farther than \ against my legs. On returning to the place where we '^ first struck the areic we continued the descent, still keeping our faces to the snow and getting a firm grip with the axes at every step. We took these precautions on account of the crevasses below us, otherwise we might have made a splendid glissade. Now that we were away from the brink of the great precipice

"Jeff" got tired of his precautions, and considered a charge down the slope would be pleasanter. It was most ludicrous to see him trying to stop himself Legs

and tail in full action, and he all the while swinging round and round on his vertical axis. He was determined however that no horizontal rotation should

" " follow ; if it had, the days of Jeff's rambles would have terminated there and then. Having crossed the bergschrund Ave glissaded in safety, and regained some provisions we had cached. On reaching the flat surface of the glacier I measured a base-line of 800 yards, for 90 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [ch. vi. the purpose of fixing the location of some points on the glacier. Then we resumed our descent. Several gl,s&ades brought us down to the boulders at the side of tlie gi'eat glacier fall, and passing our camp without stopping, we reached Glacier House at 5 P.M. after thirteen hours' work. —

CHAPTER VII.

' ' The mountain-ranges are beneath your feet. . • . No trace of man

now visible ; unless indeed it were he who fashioned that little visible link of highway, here, as would seem, scaling the inaccessible, to unite Province with Province." Carlylk.

The railway gangs. —The pack-horse again. —Sledging. —The valley beyond the snowfield.—Camped on Perley Kock.

These mountain railways give employment to a great

number of men. About every five miles of the track

is under the charge of a special section gang of ten or twelve navvies and their "boss." A snug log-

house is built for their accommodation, and the wives

of the married men look after the cooking and washing.

The men go to their work, when at all distant, on a truck propelled by a mechanical arrangement worked

by pump handles, and the overseers have tricycles which also fit on the rails ; two wheels are on one iron and a third small wheel at the end of a slender

outrigger rests on the other ; the rider sits over the pair of wheels on one rail, and propels himself at 92 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. great speed by handles which are worked hke rowing a boat. The station agent at " Glacier " had one of these. We used sometimes to take a spin along the track on it, but it came to an untimely end, fortunately when in the owner's charge. He was going up through one of the snow-sheds when he met the train coming down the incline. He had just time to save himself by leaping off, but the tricycle was knocked to bits by the cow-catcher of the locomotive. Besides the section gangs, each trestle-bridge has its special watcher who gets three dollars per day, lives in a little hut by himself, and whose business it is to examine the whole length of the bridge after the passage of each train, to see that no injury has occurred or that it has not caught fire. Along the bridge, on top, are a row of barrels of water which he can use for extinguishing fire. Should however anything serious occur he has a telephone in his hut, by which he may communicate with the section gangs on either side of him. The snow-sheds are also carefully inspected after the passage of every train, and they are usually supplied with a complete system of water-pipes and coils of hose in case of fire. Besides these gangs of men specially connected with the railway company, the contractors for building snow-sheds, cribs, and bastions, or glances as they are called, for protection against avalanches, had their gangs. Some of these men were employed in the dangerous occupation of felling timber on the vii.] THE RAILWAY GANGS. 93 steep mountain sides and shooting the logs downwards.

One fine fellow was killed at this work and several were injured while we were in the Selkirks. These men get three or more dollars per day, and their board costs less than a dollar per day, so for steady men there is here a good chance of saving money. These gangs were composed of men of all nationalities, Italians and Swedes seemed however to predominate. Casuals occasionally passed along the track by way of seeking work. They were usually of rascally appearance, and though we were hard up for packers, these unemployed were the last to look to for help.

Since our expedition up Sir Donald I had plotted out

our observations ; and the conclusion I came to was, that our next exploration must be across the great glacier field, in order to see what the ranges and valleys

beyond it were like. This would necessitate our carry-

ing a camp outfit and provisions over the summit ridge,

and this without further help would be impossible.

The superintendent at Donald kindly gave me per-

mission to take men from the section gang for this

purpose, if any were willing to come. Two respectable young men volunteered from the gang near " Glacier,"

and oil July 26th we packed our larger Alpine tent

with sleeping bags for the four of us and provisions for

about a week, into as small a compass as possible, and

by mid-day we were all ready to start. The weather

durinir the morninof looked threatening, and at noon 94 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. thin films of mist drifted across the sky. The peaks looked angiy with torn clouds, and a flash of bright lightning, followed by a deafening crash of thunder, formed the prelude to a fierce thunderstorm accompanied by a deluge of rain. It lasted for only an hour ; the sky quickly cleared, the sun shone forth, making even,' spine of the firs sparkle with rubies and emeralds. At 3 p.m. we sent for the pack-horse, and determined to move on to our tent in the woods, near the foot of Sir Donald, for the night. The cayeuse proved more docile than on the former occasion, and we fixed the packs on him with little difficulty and wended our way towards the glacier. Crossing the rivers we commenced the steeper portion of the ascent.

Suddenly, as though some unseen terror haunted that particular spot, at the very same place where the disaster had before occurred, the cayeuse was seized with

a paroxysm of buck-jumping ; the packs flew ofl", he rolled down through the ferns and rocks, and then, perfectly satisfied with his performance, stood patiently, while we restored our goods to his back. The instruments were this time safe in our knapsacks on our own backs, so the harm done was nil. "Jeff" of course came with us, but as we did not wish for his company across the glacier, on account of his scaring the animals which we hoped to shoot, we insisted on his returning with the cayeuse and Charlie from the

cascade, where we took the packs on our shoulders. vii.] OVERCROWDING IN THE WEST. 95

Now that the way was familiar to us, we earned our loads upwards with less difficulty than formerly, but as the amount of blankets, provisions, ammunition, &c., weighed a good deal, and as our two companions were not capable of carrying heavy loads, like Swiss guides, we had to divide our burthens into two packs each and return over the ground for our second pack when we had carried the first on a few hundred yards. Thus we gained our camp in the forest, and found everything in statu quo.

It was not yet dark, so to save time in the morning we carried upwards a pack each, and deposited these under boulders beyond the forest line. Then we returned to camp and cooked our supper. As all the bushes were dripping wet after the thunderstorm, we had to split some logs to get at the dry inside wood ; soon the fire crackled merrily and the smoke put the mosquitoes to flight. This tent (the tent left standing here since our last expedition) being all ready for occupation, we did not open our packs to get at the larger one, but as it was only made to hold three, a party of four filled it almost to bursting. We lay like herrings in a barrel, head and tail, and needed little covering for heat.

In the morning we found it necessary to rearrange our packs, so it was 6 a.m. before we extinguished the fire and proceeded on our upward way. We were not long in reaching our cache beneath the boulders, but 96 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. to our great disgust found that some beast had got at

our packs, and with a most depraved taste had breakfasted off my Alpine rope. It was on the outside of a j)ack, tied on in a coil, and the wretched creature had nibbled through every bight of the coil, thus cutting up the rope into a number of short lengths. Throwing away the shorter lengths which were no good, and consoling myself with a feeling of extra generosity in, thus providing the beast with a dinner,

I put up the best pieces carefully, and at our next halt for rest, spliced them together. Our course now lay up the huge piles of boulders at the side of the glacier. These were composed of hard quartzite and micaceous schists, some of the latter shining with a beautiful silky lustre, and suggesting by their lamin- ated structure, the great squeezing they were subjected to in the thrusting up of the mountain masses. As these schists were more friable than the quartzite, the configuration of the district seemed to depend to a great extent on the disintegration and denudation of these softer schists and the permanence of the harder quartzites in the mountain ridges. Between the boulder heaps were patches of heaths and grass all gay with sub-

yellow lilies, the bright scarlet flowers Alpine flowers ; of Castileia miniata, the large purple daisy Urigeron macrantha and Anemone occidentalis (like A. verna of Switzerland) were amongst the most striking. Ferns lurked in the crevices between the boulders; there we VII.] A BOUQUET-MAKING ANIMAL. 97 found amongst others tlie holly fern, Aspidium

Lonchitis. Now that "Jeff" was absent, we saw more of the

" whistlers," as the large hoary marmot is frequently

called ; the little chief hares, about the size of a rat, were common, and we succeeded in killing one with the spike of an ice-axe. A beast called the

Sewelell also lived in these boulder heaps, and is remarkable for its habit of collecting flowers. While we were wending our way upwards H. holding up a bouquet of flowers sang out to me, " Some one has been up this way before us." I knew that this was not the case, but was fairly puzzled by meeting another bouquet of plucked flowers with the stems laid neatly together as though some child had laid them down. Afterwards the mystery was solved by finding bouquets near the burrows of these animals. These flowers, though growing in regions till lately unknown to man,

have not been wasting their sweetness on the desert

air. Besides the mountain bees who drank pleasure

from their cups, these Sewelells seem to have fully appreciated their beauty or their sweetness in some strange way, and collected them while the summer

lasted for a winter store.

We saw a few grouse, and while H, went back for

his second pack, I took the walking-stick gun Avhich lie

carried, and determined to secure one of these fine birds

for the pot. Having stalked it most carefully, I held H 98 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. out the gun to glance my eye along the barrel, and when " on " the bird pulled the trigger. I know there was a loud bang, but what was impressed much more forcibly on me was a blow on my nose from the recoil, which brought all the stars of the firmament into my eyes, with the sun and moon and a few comets into the bargain. It was a shame for H. not to have warned me that the charge he had put in was big enough for a grizzly bear. I don't know what became of the grouse.

1 never fired that gun before and never since.

Going over all these steep boulder heaps twice with double packs was fatiguing work, and about mid- day we halted beneath a large block of quartzite, which promised us some shelter from the sun's rays.

Presently a loud shrill whistle from the other side of the rock made us aware of the close proximity of a marmot. We sat quite still, while H. with his walking- stick gun crept round the corner to reconnoitre. Soon the hill-side reverberated with a bang, and amidst a cloud of dust and stones, the marmot tumbled from right over our heads, and rolled some twenty yards down

the slope. H. soon reappeared ; his nose bleeding and complaining that he had missed the beast, that it had run somewhere, where he could not see, and that he was not to be blamed as he had had his nose smashed.

He w^as therefore immensely surprised when we pointed to the dead marmot on the rocks below, shot throuah the neck. VII.] VIEW FROM PERLEY ROCK. 99

As we were to camp on Peiley rock, still nearly

1,000 feet above us, and in the midst of snow and ice, it was necessary to consider the question of fuel.

Though we were far above the forest line, some dwarf balsam pines managed to sustain life in the face of the cliffs above the boulder heaps on our left. Taking the axes and rope we spent an hour scrambling on these ledges, and pitching down dead twigs to the snow below. Then we fixed some to each pack, and proceeded to ascend the snow slopes to our eyrie for the night. Perley rock was separated from the mountain side by a tongue of glacier covered with firm snow.

Lower down than where we got on to it this became steep bare ice, and so joined in with the main ice-fall of the great glacier. The snow was in splendid order, just soft enough to kick our toes into it, and firm enough to give good steps. Crossing it as soon as possible we took to the crags, and finally gained the flat summit of the rock at 5 P.M. We were not long in pitching the tent, but the scanty tufts of heath gave us but little bedding, though we collected every bit we could find. When supper was over we sat on a prominent crag, and tried to take in the full beauty of the scene. For over 2,000 feet below us, the great glacier poured down its grand ice- fall into the blue darkness of night. The gloomy forests made the valley look still darker, and we wondered whether any one at the inn was watching our little column of smoke, as we sat up aloft in the golden light H 2 100 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

of the sunset. The sky was ahnost perfectly clear. The

few clouds which clung to Eagle peak, and other un-

named summits, were sharply defined, rounded in

outline, tinged on one side with rose colour, and on

the other with rich purple shadows. Sir Douald and

all the higher peaks glowed for a while in this rose-

coloured splendour, and as the sun sank they assumed

the silvery grey of night.

We were able from this point of vantage to make

out the structure of the valley beneath us. What a

wonderful rift it seemed ! The cliffs of Eagle peak

told their part of the story very distinctly. The strata

there dipped in a curve to the eastward. We knew from previous observation that the rocks on the oppo-

site side of the valley dipped to the westward, and so

the steep scarped faces forming the sides of the valley

must be the sides of a huge crack that split an anticlinal,

high arched, fold of rocks from top to bottom. Frost

and heat, ice and rain, then went to work and pro-

duced the valley before us. This structure was only

visible so f;ir as this branch of the Illecellewaet valley was concerned.

Immediately after the sun had set, the downward

draught towards the valley seemed icy chill, passing as

it did over many miles of snow ; so we huddled into

our tent and tried to forget the hardness of our bed.

Our com}>Anions did not like it much, and seemed to think the bunks in the section-house were far pre- VII.] SLEDGING. 101 ferable. However we did not ask them to endure it long, for there was bright moonhght, and not knowing in the least what lay before us, we were anxious to get off as early as possible. The air was too cold to make standing about agreeable, so after a hasty breakfast we packed up the tent, blankets, and provisions.

From the rock on which we camped, a little arctc of snow led to the first swells of the great snow-field.

Along this we carried the packs on our shoulders, and then extemporising a sledge out of the tent poles, across which we lashed the legs of the plane table, we placed the packs on top, and harnessing ourselves by the Alpine rope, which I had spliced together, we set off for the summit ridge. The snow was frozen hard, so the sledge ran easily over the crisp surface. After a little ascent our course led us into a depression where a few crevasses were visible, so H. went behind and with our second rope held the sledge in check. Passing through the hollow we ascended by easy slopes to the summit ridge. The sun was now up, and as there was no cloud in the sky the reflection from the spotless surface made us glad to put on our blue goggles.

At 7 A.]\r. we were on the summit from which the glacier began to slope in great bosses of ice, cleft in some places by huge crevasses towards the south-west and south-east. The summit ridge was a saddle of pure snow, quite flat for about two miles. And as it commanded views 102 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. of well-known peaks as well as of the unknown valleys and peaks beyond, I measured a new base-line of

660 yards, and took plane table bearings from either end. While I was thus engaged with our men, H. boiled the thermometer, and determined afterwards our elevation to be 8,729 feet above the sea, or about

4,600 feet above the railway at " Glacier."

These observations occupied us for over an hour and a half, after which, sittino^ on the sledge, havincf a feed, we discussed our next move. To descend by one glacier or other to a new camping ground would be desirable, but Avith so many crevasses in sight, and only the first portion of the descent visible, we determined that there was no use in hauling the sledge downwards, till we had explored the way ahead, and found some practicable route. Leaving our companions at the sledge, H. and I threw off our coats, tied ourselves together to the lightest rope, and taking nothing but our axes and a prismatic compass, set off down the glacier towards the south-west. For a mile we went as fast as our legs could carry us, then crevasses yawned ahead and we had to go cautiously. We were already about 500 feet below the sledge. The descent now grew more rapid, big s6racs showing beautiful ice stratification in their sides, were piled in wild confusion. We were driven to make wide zigzags, in search of safe bridges of snow. The cliffs bound- inir the o-lacier on either hand beg^an to assume a VII.] AN UNKNOWN VALLEY. 103 grander aspect. Those on our right were overhung by a heavy mass of glacier, a prolongation at a high

level of the great snow-field ; from which small and large pieces of ice were continually rattling down, making it unsafe to follow the margin of the glacier.

Between us and the cliffs of the peak I have called

Mount Fox/ on the opposite side, there was a well

nigh impracticable ice-fall. This ice-fall would not have stopped us, however, if the track beyond looked

promising. As yet we could not see down into the

valley ; the ice rounded off so gradually that it always

shut out from us the portion of the glacier immediately

beneath us. The distant portion of the valley was

however quite visible, and looked most interesting.

Deep down in the gloomy shadows of the cliffs of what we have called the Dawson range, lay a fine

glacier, sweeping round a curve of the valley. Its

surface showed a perfect labyrinth of crevasses, and its

sides were piled with avalanche debris. One avalanche

fell from a hanging glacier on Mount Fox while we

were looking on, and the fragments rolled far out on

the glacier below. By this time we were well into

the ice-fall, and as its worst portion still lay below us,

we paused. It was no road for the sledge, that was

certain. As a glacier pass it was quite practicable,

^ Mounts Fox and Donkin we named in memory of Iho two members of the Alpine Club who, with their Swiss guides, perished in the Cau- casus while we were in the Selkirks. 104 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. but in the present state of its snow-covering, very dangerous for a party of less than four men well used to the rope. Our two companions had never been on a glacier before, so taking this into consideration, and also the fact that, as would not be the case in similar undertakings in Switzerland, we should all be loaded wdth heavy packs, we reluctantly came to the determina- tion that the descent by this route must be given up.

We did not at all relish the idea of retreat, for this grand forest-clad valley, with its streams and glaciers, was quite unknown. Where did its river flow to ? that and many other questions had for the present to rest unsolved. The glacier we had seen now took the name, on my plane table sheets, of the Geikie glacier, and we hoped some day to explore it more thoroughly.

It was near midday before we had rejoined the sledge and our companions. The sun had softened the snow, and the trudge up liill was fatiguing, for we sank knee-deep at every step. The question now was, should we explore a route down the glacier which poured from where we stood into Beaver Creek ? But as this would not give us much topographic information, we decided that observations from a knob of rock on the margin of the great snow-field overhanging Beaver

Creek would be more useful, so taking up the ropes we started with our sledge in that direction. The sledge sank deep and pulled very heavily, we there- vii.] THE VALLEY OF THE BEAVER. 105

fore took from it provisions for a meal, and started at

our best pace, leaving the sledge behind us, A very gentle ascent led upwards to the bare patches of rock, which here and there cropped up through the

margin of the snow-field, and at 4 P.M. we reached the

most conspicuous of these. The view was supremely

grand. Down below great precipices, capped for several

miles by a vertical wall of blue and white ice, lay the

verdant valley of the Beaver Avith its silvery streams.

The curved plateaux of the hills beyond looked even more remarkable than when we saw them from the shoulder of Sir Donald, and their origin now suggested

itself. The plateaux were most noticeable on the top

of the nearest range, that forming the ojiposite side of the valley. The cliffs rose vertically from the Beaver valley, above heaps of dehris covered with forest. The plateaux were separated from one another by low nearly equidistant ridges at right angles to these cliffs, and the whole surface seemed covered with grass. On the north side of the low separating ridges were thin lines of snow, not as yet melted by the summer sun. Standing as we were on the great glacier field, and noticing the knobs and ridges which bounded it, we could not avoid the conclusion that before the scooping out of the Beaver valley by its streams, glaciers had moved from where we stood with even flow over the hill tops opposite, and left these ridges as lateral moraine accumulations. The valley of lOG AMOXG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. the Beaver, at right angles to the ancient drainage lines, had no doubt been scooped out by its stream since the passing away of the great Ice age.

This work is still manifestly going on, for when we

peered over the brink of the j)recipices below us, what

devastation was manifest ! Piles of freshly fallen rocks,

bare cracked surfaces from Avhich they had fallen, loose

tottering blocks, and pinnacles of harder material

standing up from the rock buttresses ; owing their

present stability to their hardness, but even many of

these looked just ready to fall. The remains of ice

avalanches lay in heaps, thousands of feet below us, the white ice-blocks with lovely blue shadows being most con-

spicuous far down, almost to where the dark forest was

struggling upwards over the chaos of denudation. To

sit there and read the story of the hills and the valleys,

was as fascinating an occupation as I suppose could exer-

cise the human mind, but we were thirsty and hungry,

and the slow process of melting snow on flat stones,

and catching the drops in our drinking cups, claimed

for some time our undivided attention. Having satis-

fied the cravings of nature we felt more inclined to

tackle to our work again. The panorama of the

Rockies was particularly interesting, and we took bearings of the principal groups of high peaks. In the direction where Mounts Hooker and Brown ought

to lie, there were no specially high mountains, the

whole range as far as eye could see, probably 200 ;

VII.] EETURNING TO PERLEY ROCK. 107

miles from nortli to south, was snow-clad. The loftiest

groups did not rise much above the mean height. Those we specially noted bore by compass 5° and 17° west of north, and 55° east.

The afternoon was now advancing, and as we had sketched and photographed the snow-field from every possible point of view, we had to decide what direction we should face for a camping ground. Up here was no resting-place, no fuel, and it was doubtful if we could follow the glacier down to the side of the mountain we had called after Professor Macoun. At first we thought we might try the descent in this direction but calculating on the gain, which was uncertain, and a very certain expenditure of energy in hauling the sledge through soft snow, perhaps only to have to haul it back again, we finally settled to fall back on our old camping place on Perley rock, where at all events we were sure of the fire-wood we had left there. On regaining the sledge, we roped up, and for some distance it came alono' well, for thous^h the snow was soft, the slope was in our favour. Then it ploughed deeper and the hauling was most laborious.

It was only in spurts that we could all pull together.

Then a pack fell off, and we did not miss it till we had travelled 500 yards and had to tramp back for it.

Clouds began to drift up in threatening masses, and from distant valleys we heard the low growling of thunder.

This warned us to work hard if we wished to have dry 108 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

clothes for the night ; and at last the little snow arite

Avas reached, and crossing it to the rocks, we lost no time in setting up the tent over our bed of the night before.

Speedily we lit the fire, as we hoped to cook the marmot for supper. The setting sun threw a lurid glare on the torn clouds, which were swirling round the peak of Sir Donald. A few big drops fell ; in an instant a fierce gust of wind swept down off the snow-fields, making the tent flatter and flap to such a degree, that we had to huddle into it, to prevent it from being blown over the precipice. After a lull came another stinging squall with a deluge of rain, and quite close to us, a silvery white flash of lightning, darting athwart the dark clifts of Sir Donald, fairly dazzled us through the

tent walls. Crash came the thunder almost at the same

moment, blinding flashes followed in rapid succession,

but soon we were thankful to hear the thunder rumbling

away on the far side of the peak. The rain ceased,

we crept out of the tent, and relit the fire with wood which we had put under the tent before the rain came

on ; we had just time to fry some bacon at^.d get a cup

of tea when the storm began again. Then we crept into

our sleeping bags and lay on the tent floor, which being

of one piece with the sides, made it impossible for the

tent to blow away with our weight inside. Covering up

our heads, we endeavoured to be as philosophical as

possible. When the elements near us were quiet vii.] AN UNEXPECTED GLISSADE. 109

we tried to get to sleep, but none of us succeeded,

till a steady deluge of rain and hail set in, and its monotonous sound drowning every other hushed us

to repose.

When morning dawned the weather had cleared, and

a keen breeze blew from the ice. We made a hasty break-

fast, and packing up our things commenced the descent.

We began by making a short glissade, those first at the foot of the slope catching the packs as they shot down from above. Then we climbed down some crags and

reached the margin of the snow-covered glacier. The

surface was frozen perfectly hard, and as I was first down,

I commenced cutting steps across it. H. had delayed to rearrange his pack and was down last. Not noticing

what I was at, and being a little hurried, he concluded that this snow was, as we had found it each time before, soft enough to kick our feet into. He accordingly leaped on to it without first testing it.

Instantly his feet went from under him, and he fell heavily on his side and shot downwards. Instinctively he drove in the pick side of his axe, but he was going so fast that it ripped through the surface without stopping him. It was the work of a second, a glance told me it was all up if he could not turn his axe.

Quick as thought he whipped it round, and the adze side held fast. Fortunately he was able to hold on to it, though the chuck, he said, nearly brought his arms from their sockets. We ought of course to have been 110 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIEES, [ch. vii. roped, but tlio little bit of glacier we had to cross was so short we had not thought it worth while.

When I had reached safely the middle of the ice- slope I attached the end of a long line, composed of all our ropes tied together, to my axe, which I drove down firmly into the snow. My companions then fastened all the packs in one huge bundle to the other end, and launching them off they first shot down the slope, and then swung, like a pendulum, to a place of security. Lower down, the snow was soft enough to kick steps in, and in a few minutes more we were on the boulders.

Drops of rain began to fall, and by 9 A.M. there was a steady down-pour, accompanied by a strong north- east wind. This continued during the whole time we were descending. Our two companions caught a glimpse of a bear at the foot of the glacier, but we were separated from them at the time, and after a short halt for dinner we passed our lower camp, and reached the inn at four o'clock. It was Sunday, and we had done rather more than a Sabbath-day's journey, but were glad to conduct divine service for ourselves and the few inmates of Glacier House in the evening. CHAPTER Aair.

" But descending From these imaginative heights, that yield Far-stretching views into eternity .... to Nature's humbler power.

Where on the labours of the happy throng Khe smiles, including in her wide embrace City, and town, and tower—and sea with ships." WoiiU.SWOUiU.

We start for Vancouver. —The gorge of the Frazer. —The salmon canneries. —Back to the mountains.

Our faces not beiug in a comfortable state of repair, the skin having peeled off from long exposure on the snow, and the weather being still very threatening,

with thunderstorms wandering about the valleys ; we determined to make a three days' excursion to the western end of the line—to Vancouver and back— and so give our countenances a chance of healing, and the weather of mending, before making any other expeditions on the glaciers. On July 81st we accordingly took our seats in the 112 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. west-bound train, and started down the valley of the

Illecellewaet. As we swept round the curves of the

Loop we stood on the platform of the car, and got new views of the mountains. That up the valley towards the glaciers of Mount Bonney was particularly fine, and now for the first time we recognized that the route to this massive mountain must be sought for by ascending the Loop valley. Passing Ross peak station, we entered the forest-clad defile, crossing and recrossing the torrent as the valley offered better conditions for the railway. At about fifteen miles from Glacier, we stopped at Illecellewaet, a typical frontier village, the inhabitants being all prospectors, miners engaged in the silver mines high up the mountains to the northward, lumber men, and those associated with the Canadian Pacific Railway. Burnt black trunks alternated with wooden houses, some of which stood on legs in swampy pools only half reclaimed from the overflow of the river by piles of empty meat tins, broken packing cases, &c., which were littered about everywhere. After a short halt the breaks released their grasp, and we sped onwards down the valley. At Albert canon we halted to see from a stage the surging waters of the Illecellewaet {rushing water), a very appropriate name just at this place. The main stream was here joined by its north fork, and the combined torrent foamed and surged through a deep cleft in ,

VIII.] ASCENT OF THE EAGLE PASS. 11.3 the mountain. Many of the passengers tried the ex- periment of throwing down stones, to test the common belief that the blast of air near the water, is so great that the stones never reach the torrent. Then we sped

onward once more ; at last the gradient decreased and we ran out into the flat wide valley of the majestic Columbia. On its further shore rose the

Gold range, crowned, above the forest-line, by snowy

peaks ; and as we crossed the bridge and commenced the ascent to the Eagle pass, we were able to look back and enjoy lovely views of the Selkirks. H. well

remembered his former experiences here ; how, after stumbling over fallen trees in the gorge of the Ille- cellewaet, and losing one horse, they here emerged in sight of the haunts of men, and swam their horses across the river. The whole of the region is one of stupendous forests, the cedars, Douglas firs, and other coniferge becoming larger and larger as we approach the flat land near the coast. In many places however these forests, far as eye could see, were represented by nothing but charred and blackened trunks, relieved here and there by the verdure of the young forest just starting up around the old stems. Again the young forest itself had been burned, and was now no more than an impenetrable thicket of dead poles.

In the evening light we skirted for many miles the placid waters of the Shushwap lake. Flocks of ducks rose from the edge of the track, and fluttering out

I 114 AMO^'G THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

a little distance, broke for a moment the calm re-

flections of the mountains.

Leaving the lake by the valley of the Thompson, we passed about midnight through the town of Kamloops, an old-established settlement of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany. Most of us were asleep by this time. When

I awoke it was broad daylight, and the scene presented

a great contrast to the views on Shushwap lake, with

its calm mirror-like surface and sombre woods. Now

we were descending a wildly savage defile. Bare

reddish rocks and slopes of loose d<^bris flanked its

sides. Over these slopes the train had to go at

a cautiously slow pace, for we could see the stones

rattling down as we passed. Deep down,

hundreds of feet below the track, the Thompson

roared in wild rapids over its rocky bed. Descend-

ing rapidly till the line got nearer to the river, we

reached the junction of the Thompson and the Frazer,

and then, for the rest of our journey, we followed

the latter stream. The scenery in the canon of the

Frazer is almost the finest on the whole journey, and we congratulated ourselves on not having returned

from the Far West without seeing it. For miles the

track is laid on ledges or on trestle supports against the

face of the rock, or in cuttings and through tunnels at a

height of about 150 feet above the foaming river. The jutting rocks were in many places crowned by stages, where the Indians dry their salmon, and from some vm.] THE FRAZER RIVER. 115

of these numbers of salmon with bright red flesh were

hanging to dry. Over the swirling eddies of the

river, Indians might every now and then be seen

crouched on a scaffold of long poles, suspended by ropes from the overhanging rocks, and patiently watch-

ing their chance of a fish entering the huge landing

net, which they plunged apparently at random into

the eddy.

This splendid river, 1000 miles long, was discovered

in 1793 by Alexander Mackenzie, after whom the

Mackenzie river is named. He was a partner in the

North-West Company. He struck the head waters of the Frazer by crossing the divide from the Peace river, but believed it to be the Columbia. Thirteen years later Simon Frazer followed the river from its source to the sea, and gave to it his own name. The story of his canoe voyage is one of thrilling adventure, and now as we looked down upon the foaming rapids, we could realise to some small extent the awful risk of shooting downwards, in a heavily laden canoe of birch bark, when all ahead was quite unknown. Frazer and his Canadian voyageurs, in accomplishing this task, well earned their place in the history of exploration.

High up on the opposite side of the canon the

Cariboo trail was visible, but is now almost deserted in favour of the railway. Along this narrow road the teams used to bear the rich produce of the best mining

I 2 !

116 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. district in British Columbia, and along it many a

poor fellow has trudged with his pick on his shoulder

and bright hopes in his heart, fulfilled to the few, but resulting in disappointment to the many, in the great hunt for fjold.

Of what wonderful use the search for gold has been in the development and civilization of the world

Any one thinking over the history of the new world of Australasia or America cannot fail to be struck by the fact, that in the economy of Nature gold has proved, before all things else, the great incentive to exploration. The anxiety to obtain it has set on foot those projects of discovery, which might never have started had it not been for this stimulus.

The Spanish conquest of America, the seeking for

El Dorado, the adventures of Ealeigh, the advance of Australia, the opening up of California, explorations of British Columbia, and the advance from the known regions into the unexplored, all turn on the one thought—gold. And then when gold has done its work, when the new country is known to the world, when the waste lands are reclaimed, when prosperous communities are established, then it sinks into insignificance compared with the other industries, the prosecution of which lead to civihzation and a better ordered society. A country so difficult to travel in as British Columbia, might long have been, for all practical purposes, a vm.] DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 117 terra incognita were it not for those pioneers of civilization, the prospector and the miner.

It was on the Frazer river, in the year 1857, that gold was first discovered in British Columbia, and many places we passed were of historic interest. The great rush to the Frazer took place the following year. In 1861 extensive discoveries of gold were made by prospectors in the Cariboo district to the northward. The lower Frazer soon became deserted for the richer placers of William's Creek and other sites in Cariboo. The difficulty of getting there vicl the Harrison river was so great—the distance from New Westminster, whence all supplies must be draA\Ti being 520 miles, that prices went up to a marvellous extent. Men's wages rose to fifteen dollars per day, and needles were sold for one dollar each. One man, named Ned Connel, did a "good thing" in beef. Buying an ox at Lillooet, where the pack trains for Cariboo used to load up, he trained it to carry a pack. His was the first pack animal to reach William's Creek. Ned made

well on the freight of the goods he carried ; then he killed the ox, sold the beef, 900 lbs. in all, at sixty cents, per pound, thus realising over 100^. net profit on the one beast. A great number of Companies work in Cariboo.

The names of some are suggestive, and possibly in- vestors may like to buy shares in the " Never Sweat

Company," or, for contrast, the " Wake-up-Jake Com- 118 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. pany." The probability however in the case of such investments is that they are allotted claims in " Humbug Creek." At the present moment Cariboo is in "full swing," and certain gentlemen, who ought ere now to have experienced similar conditions in a literal sense, infest the road, and "hold up" the coach every now and then. By terrorizing the driver and passengers with their Winchesters, they take -what they want in the way of gold, and then let the passengers, as a rule, depart in peace. Though gold has had such a place in the development of the country, the first explorations of British Columbia were undertaken for the sake of furs. The North-West

Company, the great rival to the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, established themselves in British Columbia early in the present century.

Getting distant views of the fine peaks of the

Cascade range as we leave the gorge of the Frazer, the line traverses some flat, heavily forested country, where the j)ines grow larger than any we had yet seen, and the half deserted Port Moody is reached. The waters of the Pacific ocean lap the railway, and at

1.30, or 13.30 as that hour is called here, we run into the station at Vancouver, the terminus of the line. The steamer from Yokohama was lying at the wharf discharging tea, and we learned that fifty per cent, of the whole tea trade of the continent comes by this route and finds its way to the more populous vni.] NEW WESTMINSTER. 119

side of America, and even to Europe, by the Canadian

Pacific Railroad. Vancouver, only two years old, has

a population of 20,000 ; this was one of the chief facts of interest about the place. The heart of the town was devoid of houses, owing to the lands being held for higher prices. In the streets already built,

every second house seemed an office for transfer of

"real estate," speculation in building sites being the one thought of paramount importance in Vancouver.

Beyond these facts few places in the world could surpass Vancouver in want of interest, and as I was particularly anxious to see something of the great

salmon business at New Westminster, we left Van- couver about 5 P.M. for that place. New Westminster has the air about it of an old settled town, and the people seem to belong to the country, and are not like the unrooted exotic slips stuck down in Vancouver.

The inn was most comfortable, thoroughly " Colonial,"

as its name indicated ; meals well served, and for

dinner, bed, and breakfast, we only paid one dollar

each.

Early next morning we set off, under the

friendly guidance of one of the leading citizens, to salmon cannery, where we saw the Indians bringing

in salmon in their canoes ; Chinamen splitting, clean- ing, and packing, and Europeans overseeing the work.

Most of these salmon are taken in drift-nets im-

ported from Glasgow and the north of Ireland, the 120 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. cedar-wood floats, instead of corks, alone giving the nets a local character. The soldering of the tins, in which the fish was packed, was one of the most interesting points in the whole process. The cans, with the lids just squeezed on, were caused to roll along an incline on which a trough of solder was kept liquid by a furnace beneath. Through the melting solder they rolled, tilted on one edge, and then went on their way down the incline, which was just long enough to give them time to cool.

The salmon taken in greatest quantities in the Frazer, is the blue-back, Oncm^hyncus '/lerka. The flesh, like that of the quinat of the Columbia and other Western rivers, is of a deep red colour, and not so rich as that

of the Sahno salar of the Atlantic basin. Unlike the

latter fish, these salmon readily take a spoon-bait in

the salt water, but once they are in the rivers they

will look at neither bait nor fly. On the Columbia

there are great engines driven by water-wheels for

ladling the fish out of the river wholesale, and the

amount consumed each year, and sent across the

continent from the Pacific coast rivers amounts to

thousands of tons. About 2,500 tons of canned salmon

is a fair estimate of the annual out-put of the canneries

of the Frazer river alone. Whole trains freighted with

canned salmon cross the Rocky Mountains, and the

bulk of the production of the British Columbian rivers seems to find its way to England. ;

VIII.] DELAYED BY AN ACCIDENT. 121

All the houses in British Columbia are roofed with wooden shingles, and as we left the salmon cannery we passed through a lumber yard where steam saws were cutting shingles and filling the air with the delicious perfume of the fresh cut cedar. Before our train left New Westminster to meet the east-bound Express from Vancouver, I had just time to call on an old acquaintance, the worthy Archdeacon Woods of New

Westminster; then getting on board the train, we reached the junction, where while waiting for the Express we were nearly devoured by mosquitoes at last our train arrived, we took our seats, and as the shades of evening closed in we found ourselves once more in the canon of the Frazer, en route for the snows of the Selkirks. Early next morning we were following the course of the swift Thompson upwards, and were much interested in the wonderful development of the bench and terrace formation in the bluffs of silt, but sparsely covered with vegetation, which bounded its course. All seemed going on well till we reached Kamloops, about breakfast-time. Here the guard informed us we must expect some delay, as the west- bound train was off the track about a mile from the station. We walked along the line to the scene of the accident, meeting as we went many of the passengers on their way to Kamloops to get breakfast. A heavy thunder-shower had washed down a quantity 122 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [ch. viii. of gravel over the rails, and in the darkness of night the west-bound engine had mounted the heap of debris, and then missing the rails pulled half the train off the track, which was now buried to the axles in the loose soil, Slowly the section men raised the locomotive inch by inch with screw-jacks. The tender gave much more trouble, then the cars were hauled on by a spare locomotive, and after nine hours' delay the track was cleared and we were able to pass, but the rails were so twisted and loose that the chances of the wheels of our train slipping off seemed about ten to one. As we entered the Selkirks the weather was dark and threatening. We could see nothing of the mountains, and we reached Glacier House at

]0 P.M. in teemino- rain. CHAPTER IX.

" To regions haste,

Whose shades have never felt the encroaching axe

Or soil endured a transfer in the mart Of dire rapacity." "Wo RD.S WORTH,

Pioneering the Asulkan pass. —Rocky Mountain goats. —The Dawson range. —Reconnaissance of the Loop valley.

The acquaintance we had made with the mountains round " Glacier " had enabled us to form a fair picture of the region we were going to explore. From among all kinds of possibilities which had suggested themselves on our first arrival we could now select those which would be most helpful to our main undertaking. Foremost amongst these were the exploration of the unknown valley (to the southward)

which we had seen ; and partly in connection with this, and partly for interest on its own account, would be the ascent if possible of Mount Bonney.

Having learned by our late experiences that it was

useless to start heavily laden with packs until we 124 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. had pioneered the route before us, we determined to start as lightly equipped as possible on an excursion up the valley towards the glacier col which we have called the Asulkan pass, and see what it would lead to, and also to inspect the valley opening at the

Loop with a view to getting at Mount Bonney.

After breakfast, at 7 A.M., we started in company with the good dog " Jeff" for the first of these excursions, taking nothing with us but the two cameras, small plane table, rope, axes, and sandwiches. Clouds were still hanging about the mountains and the vegetation was dripping after the recent rain. Several times during the day we were as wet as though we had fallen into the river, but dried quickly again under the breeze and sunshine.

On leaving Glacier we bore away to the right, keeping to the path which had been made to give access to the valley. For about a mile, it was in good order ; then we found it obstructed by fallen trees, and soon after it vanished. Following the eastern bank of the torrent for some distance we crossed to the other side on a fallen tree. Farther on we recrossed on a bed of consolidated snow which completely bridged the torrent. Then we traversed a fine tract of coarse meadow land, which ought to have had about fifty head of cattle on it. Steep clifi"s, down which numerous waterfalls splashed from the snow-

fields above, re-echoed the music of streams. Dark viii.] A PERILOUS BRIPGE. 125

pine forest contrasted with the bright green grass levels below and the sunlit glaciers above. It seemed just like some scene in the Engadine, and was in itself

a perfect gem of an Alpine valley.

Passing these meadows we returned to the gravel flats near the river, and sought for means to cross to the

eastern side once more. A fallen tree lay in the

surging waters, part of its trunk under water. With

difficulty we made the first step over a deep swirl

to this trembling, quivering foot-hold. It was a

bridge more fitted for a rope-dancer than for us.

Jeff would have none of it. He preferred swimming

the torrent, and was consequently rolled over and

over, and carried two hundred yards down the stream

before he reached the farther shore. Keeping to the

level swampy land as far as possible, we were soon

stopped by alder scrub which forced us up on to the

forest-clad mountain side. We halted for a moment,

to admire a lovely waterfall coming down several

hundred feet in one leap from the opposite cliffs.

Then for an hour we had to struggle through a maze of

dense forest and fallen logs, followed by a scramble through the alder scrub lining the canon,

which the glacier torrent had excavated. At

last we were clear of vegetation, and crossinof the

stream for the fourth time, on a snow bridge, we

commenced to ascend the high moraine to the glacier.

This moraine, like many a one in Switzerland, was 126 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. composed of semi-rounded boulders compacted together by pulverized rock, channeled by watercourses, the lower part a perfect garden of flowers, while the upper edge, recently formed, held stones barely poised,

and ready to roll down at the first touch. The

flowers, among which our course now lay seemed

wonderfully brilliant in colour. The scarlet castalleia,

the purple-flowered epilobium, yellow asters, and

white saxifrages bloomed in masses or in long lines

following the ridges not recently disturbed by the

last snow-melting, "When we came to the steepest

slopes, all vegetation ceased, a continued crumbling

down was going on, and we had to beware of fol-

lowing in each other's tracks too closely, owing to

the showers of boulders which became detached

from the mass as we climbed. As for Jeff he would now and then make a most reckless charge

ahead, sending down a perfect cannonade of small

stones. The moraine, where we climbed it, was about

300 feet high, and on gaining the top we saw that

it would not do for us to follow it, but that we

must cross the glacier. This we did without much

difficulty below the ice-fall, and then ascended

the eastern moraine, at the side of the broken

seracs.

Above the ice-fall the moraine soon came to a termination, and putting on the rope we took to

the snow-covered glacier. Here and there crevasses IX.] VIEW FEOM THE COL. 127 made themselves apparent as mere dimples in the

spotless surface ; others were wide open, and we were much amused at the sagacity of Jeff. He sprang across the open crevasses in the most reckless manner imaginable ; but when he came to one only six inches wide, he whined most timidly, and peered down anxiously into the darkness. I don't know whether he had some intuitive feeling of danger, or whether in our greater caution he recognized its presence, any way he showed most distinct evidence of alarm, and relief when the danger was passed.

We soon got clear of crevasses, and after a trudge up a gentle incline, reached the col at 2 p.m. The scene was of course most interesting—deep down before us lay the valley we had looked into from the great snowfield. Our view was now across it at right angles. Some snow slopes flanked our col to the southward. Down these we quickly ran, and gaining a projecting knob of rock improved our view considerably. The Geikie glacier, with a most wonderfully fissured surface, lay far below in the valley's gloom. From the Dawson range right opposite to us a most typical glacier, with lateral and medial moraines descended and just stopped short of being a tributary. Having taken several photogi'aphs and the bearings of the principal peaks, we sat down for lunch.

It was a lovely day, and we planned that this 128 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

certainly was a route to be adopted for future

exploration.

While eating and making these plans, we saw two white specks moving on the grass slopes below, which

as they approached, we soon made out to be wild

goats. Six others joined the first two, and came up

to have a look at us, and then grazed without show-

ing the slightest alarm. The long white wool hanging thick above the knee gave them the appearance

of wearing knickerbockers. As we had no rifle they

were perfectly safe, and " Jeff," who was death on all

kinds of small game, sat on his tail and looked at them with much complacency. They had never seen man or dog before, and "Jeff" had never seen

that kind of beast except in the midst of civiliza-

tion, and being a civilized dog he felt that barking

at, or hunting goats would be the lowest depth of

depravity.

Other thoughts passed through our minds, for we saw m them a future store of good food when we should come camping into this valley. There was now no time to make further explorations, so taking a last look at the goats we called the pass by their Shushwap Indian name, Asulkan, and picking up our light swags ascended to the

col, and then trudged down the gently sloping glacier for a couple of miles at a swinging pace. When the few crevasses were past and the moraine • X.] A FRIENDLY BEAR. 129 reached, we threw off the rope which, except as a matter of principle, we might have done very well without. Following our former track in every detail, we were soon in the forest—then came the swollen river which had to be crossed on the fallen tree.

We put up a brace of snipe in the swamp near it, and observed some little sandpipers on the gravel spits; then once more we were in the forest, and following the course of the river reached Glacier

House at 8 p.m. after a delightful and most profitable day of twelve hours.

We spoke to Mr. Bell Smith of the beauty of the valley we had been in. He too had done a good day's work, and told us that while sitting at his easel in a secluded part of the forest, a bear came and looked at him, and grunting approval of his occupation, went on his way in peace.

One future route had now been explored, so our next move was a reconnaissaince of the Loop valley and a route to the foot of Mount Bonney.

After an early breakfast, taking our axes, a prismatic compass, and small detective camera, we started down the railway track to the westward to where, on immense trestle-bridges, the line forms a double loop like the letter S.

On reaching the first high trestle-bridge, beneath which the turbid glacier torrent from the snows of

Mount Bonney, finds its way to the Illecellewaet, we

• K 130 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. paused to consider which side of the stream we had better try. The whole valley was clad in trackless forest, and so far as we could learn, no human being had as yet penetrated to its head. As the forest looked much the same on either hand, but as the mountain side beneath Ross peak looked the most precipitous, we decided on the more gently sloping right bank.

Divesting ourselves of our coats, which we placed on a conspicuous fallen tree until our return, we entered the forest, fully prepared for a hot and hard struggle. It is difficult to give anything like an adequate idea of what such forests as these are like.

Besides the noble pines in the prime of life, dressed with lichens, the young trees growing up, the thickets of blueberry bushes, rhododendrons and the devil's club with its long broad leaves and coral red

fruit, but most terrible thorns ; there is the network of fallen trees, some rotting on the ground, others piled on top of these at every possible angle, with stumps of broken branches sticking out like spikes. Again, overhead are trees recently fallen, jammed against

others, some only needing a push to bring them

down. Gettincr through such a tangle is all hand

and knee work. Sometimes a fallen log leads in the

right direction, and you can walk along it, if the

rotten bark does not give way and deposit you in a

bed of devil's club. A few hours of this kind of IX.] THE EOUTE TO MOUNT BONNEY. 131 work is a desperate trial to one's temper, you make so little progress for all the labour expended.

On this day, three hours of it brought us just to the bend of the valley, and we saw plainly enough that this was the route that must be followed if we would reach Mount Bonney. Now we had no packs

—what would it be when we had ! But there, in full view, was the grand glacier heading the end of the valley : it could be reached with fine weather, patience, and perseverance. We hoped we might be blessed with all three.

K 2 " —

CHAPTER X.

" In the calm darkness of the moonless nights, In the lone glare of day, the snows descend

Upon that mountain ; none beholds them there. Nor when the flakes burn in the sinking sun, Or the star-beams dart through them. Winds contend Silently there, and heap the snow, .... And what were thou and earth and stars and sea If to the human mind's imaginings Silence and solitude were vacancy ? Shelley.

Start for camp in Loop valley. —The Glaciers of Mount Bonney. Ascend the Lily glacier.

On August 6th we started with our small tent, blankets, rifle, instruments, &c., for the Loop valley, determined if necessary to spend the week in Mount Bonney's conquest. We had an early breakfast, and Mr. Perley kindly offered to help us so far as he could. A small truck fitted to run on the railway, provided with a lever break, was ready to hand. We lifted it on to the rails, packed our goods on it, and sitting on the packs with Mr. Perley and two men, who volunteered to shove the truck up the hill again after we CH.x.] SLOW PROGRESS. 133 had started, sped away down the gradient, round curves and through snow-sheds in quick succession, and crossing the first high trestle-bridge of the Loop, brought our truck to a stand at its farther end.

From our experiences in preliminary exploration, we judged that nothing could be worse than the forest on the right bank of the creek, so we decided to make our way up the left bank and take chance for its being better. A patch of flat shingle in the river- bed also gave us a clear start of about 300 yards, so lifting our packs off the truck, we pitched them over the embankment, and saw them bounding and hopping down to the bed of the creek a hundred feet below.

Bidding adieu to our friends, we left them to shove the empty truck up the gradients towards the inn, and following our packs down the embankment, commenced work in earnest. There were four packs to carry, but as they seemed too heavy, we took some tins and cartridges out of them and made a cache near the river bank. Then taking a load each we soon reached the end of the shingle flat, and were forced by the stream, swollen with melting snow, into the forest. Setting down the first packs, we returned for the others and then moved on again. To carry

them continuously on our backs was impossible ; for

the obstacles—composed of fallen trees, great boulder heaps shot down from the mountain precipices above, or alder scrub which generally grew densely where —

134 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

the forest had been smashed down by snow-sUdes

were so difficult to overcome, that tumbling the pack

down a slope, or pulling it up after us when we had

gained firm foot-hold on a log, was the easiest way

of getting along. Having two packs each neces-

sitated our going over all the ground twice. When

four hours had been thus spent, and the shingle

of the river bed was once more reached, we felt

pretty tired, and were glad to halt for dinner. The

way ahead was now more open, and after a good

rest we set to work again. The loose, angular boulders over which our path lay were a delightful

change after the forest. Too soon, unfortunately, this

charming experience came to an end, and once more

alder scrub and forest blocked the way. Below on

our left the creek was arched over with snow thickly strewn with trunks of cedars and hemlocks brought

down by spring avalanches, and for more than a mile the river was completely invisible. The surface of

this snow seemed the most promising route for us now, and descending the precipitous bank we gained

its surface. The tree-trunks even here Avere a serious obstacle; but we followed up the river bed for half a mile. It was now high time to think of camping for the night, but not a single level spot could be found.

We set down the packs and climbed the hill-side

to explore : nothing like a camping-ground was visible. Our little tent needed very small accommo- X.] EFFECTS OF AN AVALAXCHE. 135 dation, but not even that could be found. It was wonderful to see the way that great cedars, four feet and more in diameter, had recently been snapped across by the avalanche, the unmelted snow of which formed the covering over the stream. Huge trees were split from end to end, and the ddhris formed a savage foreground to the swelling slopes of forest, the blue ice of the glaciers filling the head of the valley, and the dark purple precipices of Mount Bonney, crowned with a cornice of snow sharply defined against a cloudless sky. The banks of the torrent, above its snow covering, were here and there gay with bright flowers, scarlet and purple being the predominating colours. The air was loaded with the fragrance of the pine forest, and above the hoarse roar of the torrent and the splash of a cascade, which cut its way through a rocky canon on our right, the shrill cry of the hoary marmot sounded weird and startling.

Having given ourselves a few minutes to drink in the magnificent beauty of our surroundings, and to discuss the two possible lines of attack on Mount

Bonney, evening tints warned us that there was but little time to lose, and as it was too late to experi- ment on the unknown difficulties ahead, there was nothing for it but to trudge back with our packs to where we had taken to the snow-choked river bed, re-ascend the steep bank, and camp on the boulders close to the shelter of the forest. We noted the place 136 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. when passing it on the way up, but on regaining it

things did not look so promising ; nevertheless, there was no choice—that much was certain ; so by building up and levelling down, turning up the smooth side of the stones, and then making a bed of pine tips, we pitched our tent on the top, and arranging a few stones for a fireplace at the tent door, soon felt quite at home, and ready to invite a friend to dinner should one turn up, which, however, was not likely.

The sputtering of the bacon in the frying-pan, the jet of steam from the kettle, the glare of the cedar- wood fire, soon made us feel at peace with all the world ; and after sitting for a while to enjoy the music of the torrent as it roared over its rocky bed, carrying boulders along, the clinking of which one against the other was distinctly audible, we turned

into our sleeping-bags ; for though these valleys were intensely hot in the daytime, the downward draught from the glaciers which sets in immediately after sunset, makes the air icy cold.

Our intention for the morrow was to explore the pass to the east of Mount Bonney by ascending the glacier which I have named on my map the Lily glacier. We examinetl the route to it from a little above our camp before night closed in, and hoped that it would give us a further view into that valley which we had already reached over the Asulkan pass. Perhaps, too, we might find the far side of X.] STAET FOR THE LILY GLACIER. 137

Mount Bonney more accessible than the side facing

us, if so, we might try it. When a place is quite unknown, plans cannot of course be made with any

greater certainty than this, so we went to sleep with

that delightful uncertainty as to the future, which

lends such a charm to travel; except when it is an

uncertainty involving a prospect of short commons.

At 4 A.M. we were awake, and after a hasty

breakfast made ready to start on our exploration of

the Lily glacier, and the pass at its head. The rifle,

the camera, plane table, &c., and provisions for the

day were divided as fairly as possible between us ; and

taking our axes we descended to the snow-covered

river bed, and followed it upwards over the fallen

tree trunks which strewed its surface, till we reached the upper termination of the snow bridge, and then

we had to take to the forest on our left. Now our

difficulties commenced in earnest, and for the next two hours I thought several times of giving up in despair.

The river bed contracted to a narrow canon, one side being composed of rotten slopes of debris pro- duced by the disintegration of layers of mica schist which cropped out nearly horizontal. The opposite side of the chasm was strangely enough composed of great vertical slabs of quartzite, against the base of which the torrent swirled along.

This rotten slope on which we were, had here 138 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

and there crumbled away into perfectly inaccessible

declivities ; now and then we cut steps with our ice-

axes, but the greater part of the time was spent

in forcing our way upwards through alder scrub,

trusting almost entirely to our arms and having no

foot-hold often for many yards. Not knowing what

difficulties might be in the forest above us, we tried

to keep as near as possible to the river. The distance

to the foot of the glacier with a fine ice cave from

wliich tlie torrent issued, seemed absurdly short ; but there we were—scrambling up a slope 100 feet in

order to get past some difficulty not ten feet wide.

Then down again to the boulders of the river, then

up a couple of hundred feet, till at last we determined to give up the route by the river and strike straight

up for the pine forest above. Ascending by a slope of ochrey yellow detritus we got up under the over-

hanging roots of the hemlocks and balsams, and crept

along beneath them for some distance. Then being

forced to descend about fifty feet we at last found a

j)lace where we could clamber up by roots and so

gain the firm slope above. We felt relieved at

being done with the crumbling schist, but a chaos

of fallen trunks made lateral advance still impossible

—there was rothing for it but to go higher. And when about 500 feet above the stream, what was our

surprise to meet with a fair lead along what Avas

most distinctly the top of an old glacier moraine. X.] AN OLD MORAINE. 139

The moss -covered boulders were arranged in the most symmetrical manner possible, and the depression in the upper side afforded pleasant walking, whenever it was not encumbered by fallen logs. If proof of the shrinking of the glaciers in these regions was wanting here it was. Nothing could be more patent than that at some period not very remote the glaciers of Mount Bonney filled this valley to a depth ot

500 feet greater than at present. We followed the moraine through the forest for about half a mile, but then it terminated, with the forest, at the margin of an avalanche track overgrown by alder scrub.

Half an hour's scrambling through this brought us at last clear of vegetation into the hollow between the gla.cier and the mountain side. The recent moraine stood up on our right capped by the clear ice of the glacier, from which stones occasionally rattled down, but the snow-filled langthal, or depression between the mountain and the moraine, was filled with compact snow which promised us easy going for a mile or so. We found that a large bear had just taken to the same route in advance of us so we looked to our rifle and followed his tracks towards the pass.

The moraine on our right was that of the main glacier coming from Mount Bonney ; it now diverged more from the mountain, and the snow we had found so pleasant to walk on terminated in a waste of boulders through which a muddy torrent flowed 140 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. from the lower end of the Lily glacier, which now blocked the way ahead. The mountain side to our left was still clothed in rank sub-alpine vegetation, the large succulent-leaved vcratrum viride affording dense cover for the marmots and other creatures uttering shrill whistling cries of alarm. The struggle through the forest had taken more out of us than twice the same amount of work on the open mountain side, so before commencing further difficulties, which the steep termination of the glacier now presented to us, we halted at the clearest of the streams to rest and have something to eat. The glacier before us was quite inaccessible for some distance, stones falling from the lower face warned us to give it a wide berth and, as far as we could see, it was broken up into spires and pinnacles of ice. Leaving it for the present on our left we ascended the high moraine separating it from the Mount

Bonney glaciers, and the view over these from its summit was very fine indeed. This great field of undulating and in some cases much broken ice, di\dded itself into no less than seven distinct glaciers, separated by

moraines ; beyond these, in a hollow of its own, was the glacier descending from the col I have called

Ross pass, and this with the Lily glacier on our left made nine glaciers all converging to the narrow canon through which we had attempted to make our way, and throuofh which the combined streams roared X.] ON THE LILY GLACIER. 141 and swirled. It was a grand amphitheatre paved with ice, walled in by the dark precipices of Mount Bonney, Ross Peak, and the high ridges facing them, and presenting a comparatively small opening towards the Illecellewaet valley. Before going further I took two photographs, and then we resumed our journey, the easiest route being the very narrow top of the moraine. Here we found bits of vein quartz with bright cubes of galena, showing that somewhere in the ridge bounding the pass to the south-westward a vein of this mineral may be discovered. Following the moraine upwards for about half an hour we reached the mountain spur. The

Lily glacier on our left was yet too much broken for us to take to it, so we ascended the arete which got higher and higher above the glacier. The rocks were split up and piled in wild confusion, some great blocks ready to start downwards on the slightest push. Now the glacier below us seemed more level, so although a good many crevasses, partially covered with snow, were visible, we took the first available chance of descending to its surface. This was done by scrambling down a remarkable natural tunnel through the rock, and then adjusting the rope we stepped on to the ice.

For a few hundred yards we had to observe the greatest possible caution, as the giving way of a snow bridge would be most serious with only two on the ;

142 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. rope. It may be thought that under such circumstances it would be better not to be roped at all.

This however we proved on several occasions to be quite incorrect. Short of the collapse of a snow bridge, the possibility of which we were most careful to avoid, there are numbers of small slips, sure to occur, when one can readily help the other, but which without the rope might easily become dangerous. The crevasses were soon passed, and we faced up the gentle slopes to the col. The weather was not improving; thin films of mist began to drift round the higher ridges, hanging in the gullies and bringing out the details of every crag which are quite invisible in bright sunshine.

When we reached the summit of the pass, it was past mid- day, so all thoughts of attempting Mount Bonney by this route left our minds. So far as we could see up the rocks, the route seemed possible but not easy we knew the distance from the pass over an outlying peak, down into a hollow, and up to the final summit was very long ; it was therefore too serious a piece of business to undertake so late in the day. The view from the pass was somewhat confined by a great ridge from Mount Bonney running down towards the south, and on the other hand by the ridge separating us from

the Asulkan valley ; but what we could see, in spite of the clouds which hung low, was most interesting. The unknown valley that we had already got glimpses of from the great snow field, and from the Asulkan X.] UNSOLVED PROBLEMS. 143 pass was again before us, but from a new point of

view ; and now for the first time we could see up a large branch valley, which was headed by a fine glacier that I have named after Sir W. C. Van Home.

This glacier was most symmetrical in shape, its moraines well developed, and the extensive snow-field from which it descended culminated in a perfectly spotless snowy peak.

The stream from this glacier was soon joined by others from the smaller glaciers which filled the lateral valleys, and with many a curve, it flowed through green alder scrub, to join the stream from the Geikie glacier, a little to the right of the point to which our view extended. Until now we had thought that this valley, flanked with fine pine forests, was the outlet of the drainage of this region, now we saw that it brought a fine tributary to the main stream. The outlet was still un- discovered. Continuing our course beyond the pass we commenced to descend the glacier before us, and bearing off to the south-east traversed some domes of snow which overhung the valley and promised a further view. We could trace the course of the river a little further, and conjectured that it must give a sharp turn to the south-

ward ; but after a halt for dinner and photography we

returned to the col more anxious than ever to reach the

summit of Mount Bonney, from which alone all these

problems could satisfactorily be solved.

On the pass we set up the plane table. The back- 144 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

ward view enabled us to mark points already fixed,

and the forward glance gave us bearings of points some

of which we had observed from former stations, and of

others completely new. We had to work quickly, as

the clouds were closing up, and it seemed certain that

ere we could reach camp bad weather of some kind

would be upon us.

Fortunately for the plane table work it was still

quite calm. As we descended the glacier however the

downward blast from the pass became stronger, and

when we had descended about 500 feet we stopped

to take a reading of the thermometer, and found, as I

expected, that the temperature was eight degrees lower

than at the summit of the pass. Further down it felt

still colder. Our tracks were quite visible till we came

to a steep part of the glacier, where the snow was

blown off the ice and numerous crevasses stood wide open. We here missed our former track, and therefore experienced some delay in finding a safe route,

but finally reached the natural gateway in the cliffs,

and ascending through it quitted the Lily glacier. Then came the descent along the top of the moraine, and just as we reached the compacted snow in the hollow

between it and the mountain side it began to rain. The snow gave us good travelling, so we lost no time

and soon reached its lower termination. The ice of the main glacier from Mount Bonney had here broken down the moraine, and some crevasses formed regular X.] A NARROW ESCAPE. 145 ice caves, easy of access. Not wishing to get our clothes wet, as we had no way of drying them and needed them to sleep in at night, we proposed to take shelter in one of these ice caves and give the weather a chance to clear. We were of course aware of the danger of stones falling from the ice above, so no doubt the idea had in it a total lack of the prudence which

I have always claimed for myself as a special characteristic. This time however we got our lesson. We had just diverged from our track and were making our way

over some debris to get to the cave, when crash ! down came about ten tons of rocks and ice from the glacier above right across its mouth. If we had been ten

yards further ! This thought flashed through our minds simultaneously, but I am afraid that what was expressed on our countenances when our eyes met was, " What an awful fool vou were to think of going near that cave." This is one of the great advantages of two travelling together, that each can always have the luxury of saying when any mistake is made that it was altogether the other's fault. All the same, it was necessary to keep my jacket dry, so instead of turning it inside out, as an Irishman is generally supposed to do under such circumstances, I took it off and packed it tightly into my knapsack.

We left the glaciers and struck into the forest.

The alder bushes were so dripping that we were soon just as wet as if we had been chin-deep in the river. L —;

146 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

Wishing to avoid the difficulties of our ascent we took

a high level through the tall timber, found the ancient

moraine in the forest, and followed it till we were immediately over our camp, which we could recognize on the opposite side of the valley. The rain, for the most part a drizzle, now and then fell in a perfect torrent,

compelling us to take shelter under a large pine tree from its chilling influence. Then came the descent

down for hundreds of feet by half-hidden boulders

strewn with fallen logs ; down through the rhodo-

dendron bushes ; down through blueberry bushes laden

with rich fruit, which of course we could not pass by without picking. And at last we were in the snow-packed, tree-strewn river gorge. Following it downwards to where the snow terminated, and the

long imprisoned glacier torrent foamed out, muddy and furious, to follow its noisy course down the valley,

we ascended the steep bank to the left and were soon at our camp. Fortunately before leaving camp in the morning we had put some firewood into the tent this was now quite dry, though all the rest was

dripping ; with its aid we quickly got a fire going,

and splitting other logs so as to expose the dry inside,

we began to steam before a roaring fire. Our

shirts dried quickly under this treatment, and as our

coats were dry and the rain had ceased, we cooked

our bacon in comfort, and fried a scone in the remaining fat in the frying-pan, and after our day of X.] WELL-EARNED REPOSE. 147 twelve hours' work felt perfectly ready to turn in by the flickering light of the dying fire. One or two corners of stones in my bed seemed determined to make a lasting impression on me ; chipnuncks began their nightly scrambles up and down the outside of

the tent ; I had some dread that a mosquito or two had eluded our vigilance and got inside our defences of

netting ; but all these troubles quickly vanished into the blissful atmosphere of dreamland.

L 2 CHAPTER XL

" The joy of life in steepness overcome And victories of ascent, and looking down On all that had looked down on us." Tenxysox.

An early start. —A steep couloir. — A mauvais pas. —The summit of ilouut Bonney. —Sunset. —Benighted in the forest.

It seemed now quite evident to us that Mount Bonney was not to be conquered without a really big effort, so to prepare ourselves for that, we determined to make the 8th an off day. It was also necessary to fetch up more provisions from our cache do^^^l at the mouth of the valley, H. volunteered to do this, and

I remained at camp to work up notes and sketches.

To be alone in this wilderness of forest and chff, glaciers and mountain torrents, bright wild flowers, bright sunshine, and the weird cry of the marmots, and with leisure to let the mind dwell on it undis- turbed, was an experience well worth a day, even if no other reason for pause existed. After breakfast CH. XI.] AN EARLY START. 149

H. started down the valley, and returned in the evening with some meal and meat-tins and his half- plate camera. While he was away I was able to shoot a marmot and a little chief hare, and had them stewing for supper when he arrived. A spring of clear water, in the midst of sweet-scented, large red-flowered mimulus, oozed from the rocks near our tent, and fetching water thence we made the kettle boil on the cedar logs.

After supper we took a last anxious glance at Mount

Bonney, rising from its bed of glaciers in dark cliffs to a height of 6,500 feet above our camp. Cold, grey

wreaths of fleecy clouds wound in and out through its gullies, illumined here and there by shafts of lurid sunset light. The weather and its promise for the morrow filled our minds with many forebodings. I felt certain we were in for wind and rain, so I did

not change the plates in my camera. If it should

turn out fine H. had six plates all ready in his. With what hopes we could conjure up we soothed our

minds to sleep, and soon the roar of the torrent and all other sounds were as though they were not.

I woke once or twice and looked at my watch. At

3.30 it was time to get up. Anxiously we stepped

out of our warm bajjs into the chill morningr air.

Stars were twinkling brightly. Mount Bonney looked

dark and sullen, but its arite was clear cut against

the sky ; lower down, gi'ey mists lay like a blanket ;

150 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. on the glacier. The flowers and trees were dripping with dew. All this looked promising, so shivering in the cold we lit the fire, made a cup of tea, and shouldered our swags which we had prepared the night before, closed the tent doors, and shortly after four o'clock started on our way. H. carried his half-

plate camera and the rope ; I took the provisions and the plane table. On former expeditions we had found that in making elaborate plans to avoid difficulties, we had involved ourselves in worse ones which were unforeseen; so now, as we intended to make our attack by the glacier descending from the col to the north- westward of our peak, we determined to take a " bee line " for its lower termination, and let difficulties come when they might. After a small strip of forest, our way lay across an open area of large angular boulders then came a very tangled piece of forest, which we had to follow down into a ravine and then work up a steep ascent beyond. Our aim was to strike the stream from the glacier as soon as possible. Leaving the tall forest, a desperate struggle ensued with alder scrub through which we scrambled for an hour. There was evidently a bear in it, for we saw the branches swaying to and fro as he pushed his way along a little below us. At last we entered the hollow worn

by the glacier stream ; it was all choked with compacted snow, which gave us good travelling towards the glaciers. Immediately on our left, above a slope of XI.] ON THE TRACK OF A BEAR. 151 cUhris, rose steep cliffs, forest-clad above, and in their lower portions pierced by several dark caves. Through the grass and wild flowers on the shingle slope, well- marked paths converged to the entrance of these caves ; they were evidently the home of bears. We had no rifle, so we gave them a wide berth, for to meet a female grizzly with cubs was an adventure we felt disinclined to tackle with nothing but ice-axes. Louder and louder rose the roar of a waterfall, and turning a bend, we came on the open torrent making a fine leap of a hundred feet, from the flowery slopes above

into a tunnel it had bored for itself beneath the snow.

We had now to begin a climb through tangled forest

once more, but reaching the level, about 200 feet

higher up, found a fine open, clothed in a perfect

meadow of Veratrum viride as high as our waists. Here

again a bear was making tracks ahead of us. The broad

leaves were so filled with dew that walking through

was as wetting as if we were in the river, we there-

fore gladly followed the path he made ; the stems being-

crushed down and the dew shaken from the leaves in

his wake. For several hundred yards he had gone

just in the direction desired, but when he turned off

to the slopes on our left we had to say good-bye to

him, and take the shortest line to the shingle beds

near the stream, which stretched to the foot of the

glacier. The cliffs on our left continued to rise higher

and higher. Now the forest cap above had given 152 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. place to one of glacier ice, from wliich seven fine waterfalls leaped down amongst the vegetation below, and made their way by countless channels to the larsfer stream. The whole air trembled with the roar and splash of torrents and cascades. As yet there was enough forest in the scene to give richness to it, so we found ourselves in a perfect Alpine paradise, which no being higher than a bear had ever entered before.

On reaching the recent moraine near the foot of the glacier, and noticing how much the glacier had shrunk in recent years, we halted for some refreshment. It was now four hours since we had left the camp, and we had risen just 1,600 feet. Following the side of the glacier as far as possible, we were soon forced by the closing in of the cliffs to take to the ice. This we found so steep that without endless

step-cutting we could not ascend by it ; we therefore crossed it to the northward, and followed the moraine under the cliffs of the Ross peak range.

The strata in these cliffs is nearly vertical, but contorted and arched in some places in wonderful stvle. Caves again were numerous at the base of. these cliffs, and looked like the habitations of bears.

Once more the terminating of the moraine compelled us to take to the glacier, now covered with snow, and at 9.30 we found ourselves cutting steps at the foot of the couloir leading to the pass. The steep slope XI.] A SNOW COULOIR. 153 being scored by tracks of falling stones from the cliffs on either hand, we commenced our ascent in the centre.

After cutting a few steps and zigzagging upward,

we looked up at the cornice overhanging the top ; it seemed a long way off, and our hearts, I fear, failed us a little. I had hoped we might have got grips for our feet. To cut steps all the way up was, for us, next to impossible. Then I found we could get a little grip by kicking, and soon the snow became softer and our toes Avent well in. Holding good grips with our axes we now ascended at a fair pace. A bergschrund near the top forced us once more on to the rocks ; we thus avoided the cornice, and at 10.30 just two hours from the foot of the glacier, we stood on the col. Before us the mountain fell away in precipitous slopes to a glacier-filled valley whence

streams flowed into the Illecellewaet ; and we could detect the railway track as a fine line, far below in the latter valley.

The two sides of the col "presented a marvellous contrast ; on the north a heavy cornice overhung a snow-filled couloir leading down to a glacier. On the south a perfect garden of Alpine flowers was in full bloom. There was the familiax Bryas odapetala and gay yellow Haplopapus Brandigeii all low-growing plants.

Deep down however beneath the flowery slopes the valley was filled by a small glacier. The aritc on ;

154 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. our left leading towards Mount Bonney was broad and free from snow, and without any delay we resumed our ascent along it. The slope was gentle, and for half an hour nothing in the world could be easier.

We could not see very far ahead owing to a series of knobs, one of which always rose a short distance ahead. I knew it was not all going to be easy like this, so we hurried anxiously upward, hoping soon to come in sight of the little curved peak visible from the railway, and which we feared would prove a serious obstacle to our progress. Scrambling up some angular sharp-edged blocks of quartzite into which the arete had now contracted, the curved peak came into view, and the look of it was by no means reassuring. From where we stood, to its foot, the arite was very sharp, flanked on the southward by steep snow slopes leading down for about 2,000 feet to the glacier on our right, while a heavy cornice overhung the almost vertical precipice to the northward. From this arete the peak sprang upwards in nearly perpendicular crags, snow-seamed, for over 200 feet. Two possible routes were all that offered : one was, to scale the apparently vertical face in front the other was to skirt round the peak on the steep snow slope to the right, and so turn its flank.

The slope was so very steep and the snow so likely to slide, that we decided the latter route would be too risky, we therefore put on the rope and pulled ourselves XL] DIFFICULTIES IN THE ASCENT. 155 together for a stiff climb. Having rested for a few minutes and deposited our spare food under a boulder, we started along the cornice with much caution, and then began to climb upwards. There was just enough loose powdery snow on the crags, to make it most difficult to find a firm grip for either hands, feet, or

axe.

The projecting shales, set vertically, were also so rotten that at every step we had to dislodge quantities of rock ere we could find any solid foothold. Every move needed the greatest possible caution, for we could not avoid being in a direct line one over the other. The ridge about half way up, divided into two parallel ridges, the right hand one composed

of bare crags, completely overhanging the snow slopes below, while the other was more or less a continuous snow arete to the summit. After much scraping away of snow with my axe I succeeded in reaching these crags while H. continued his way up the snow arite. We kept the rope tight between us and ascended abreast, he holding on while

I sought out fresh grips, and when he moved I made

myself as secure as I could. The crags on my ridge soon became more trustworthy, and at ten minutes to one o'clock the top of this first peak was beneath

my feet. A snow cornice overhung the arete H. was

on, and as he sung out from below that he had no grip

whatever in the loose snow, I gave him a good pull. "

156 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. and up he came making a fine gap in the cornice. We were up now, so much was certain, but the glance which passed from one to the other expressed the foremost thought in our minds, " What about the getting down ! The view from the curved peak was superb. A perfect ocean of peaks and glaciers all cleft by valleys, and the main peak of Mount Bonney still rising in a dome of snow to the eastward. The weather looked threatening. Most of the landscape was bathed in sunshine, but there were heavy clouds hanging about the peaks, and one drifting towards us looked so lowering that we feared a thunderstorm. Our first thought was to hurry up with the camera, but ere we could get it fixed the clouds broke in a furious shower of hail accompanied by strong wind, and the photograph taken under such circumstances was decidedly of a shaky appearance. The gap in the cornice through which H. had ascended was distinct enough, but the distant view was all doubled and confused.

As quickly as it came the storm passed away, and descending an easy slope of snow for a few hundred yards we commenced the ascent of the final peak. It was now nothing more than a tiresome trudge up steep domes of snow. When one was reached which we hoped was the final one another loomed up ahead.

At last the highest crest was in sight, with a huge

XI.] THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT BONNEY. 157 cornice overhangmg the cliffs. Inside the cornice a narrow ridge of crags made themselves visible through the snow, and at ten minutes past three we were on the summit. We placed the thermometer in a suitable position and took the reading of the barometer ; it showed us to be about 10,600 feet above the sea, probably a little more than this, and over 6,000 feet above our camp.

It was too late in the day to admit of unnecessary delay, so I set up the plane table, took a series of observations, and then we turned our attention to photography. As much of our view, in the direction of what was most familiar in the panorama, was shut out by the cornice projecting from the summit,

H. ventured out on it, while I, taking a round turn of the rope on a crag held him firm. With his axe he pushed down some of the cornice, and fixing the camera took a photograph of the peaks of Mount Sir Donald and the n^v^ of the great lUecellewaet glacier. The horizon line formed by the range of the Rocky Mountains was also visible in the photograph. We took other views with less difficulty.

The unknown valley with its river ^ glistening like a silver thread, was in view for full thirty

^ Mr. Bailie-Groiuaii, writing in the Field for May the 11th, 1889, commeuts on our map, and considers that this river whose glacier sources we surveyed is the Lardo (or Lardeaux) which flows into tlie Kootenay Lake. His long experience of the Kootenay country renders it likely that he is right, so I have entered this name in my map. 158 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. miles. To take in all the points of the panorama would have needed hours of work. Unfortunately

we dared not spend this time ; the sun was now going down to the westward, and it seemed already beyond hope that we could regain our camp before nightfall. The rocks of the crest were composed of a most beautiful, fine-grained, white quartzite, speckled with a few dark spots of oxide of iron or manganese.

The joints were sharply rectangular, giving an almost artificial appearance to each block, and as we stirred them in building a very small cairn they rang with a metallic sound. At 4 P.M. we commenced the descent, and going as fast as possible, between glissading and running we were soon down to the col, beyond which the curved peak rose to the westward. As the evening sun was now shining on the side of the peak by which we had ascended, we felt that, soft as the snow had been in the morning, now it would be all slush, and the bad bit consequently much worse than before. We thought anything would be better than to attempt such a descent, so we determined to try and turn the peak in flank and cross the steep slopes of snow, plastered on to its face, which we had carefully considered during our ascent.

Accordingly, we bore away to the left, descending to a shoulder of the ridge below the peak. On reachincr it we found ourselves on the brink of the precipice overlooking the glacier-filled valley

' il. hauk-a caiuiousiy but linniy on the rope."— P. li AVALANCHE. 159 XT J AN to the westward, and it too was topped by a cornice.

Farther to the right the n^v^ we were on curved downwards, and though nearly vertical in its face, there was no actual cornice. It looked an exceedingly uncomfortable bit of work, but our only choice lay between it and what seemed the worse descent over the summit of the peak. The question

Avas, could we reach the snow slope below the brink of the precipice ? and having reached it, would it bear our weight ? H. buried himself as deeply as possible in the snow, and when he considered himself quite firm

I turned my face to the slope, and holding on to the rope kicked my toes in and went over the brink. I took the precaution, too, of burying my axe up to its head at every step. Just below the brink there was a projecting crag. This I thought would give a firm footing before testing the snow slope. I got one foot on to it, and was taking it as gently as possible when the rock

gave way, a large piece of snow went with it, and fell on the slope twenty feet below. I stuck my knees into the

snow, but felt my whole weight was on the rope. Then

I heard a swishing noise in the air, and glancing down-

wards saw that the whole snow slope had cracked across,

and was starting away down towards the valley in one huge avalanche. H. hauled cautiously but firmly on the rope, and getting what grip I could with toes,

knees, and ice-axe I was quickly in a safe position,

and the tw'o of us standing side by side, watched the 160 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. clouds of snow filling the abyss below, and the huge masses bounding outwards. We listened to the sullen roar which gradually subsided, and all again seemed quiet except that a few blocks of consolidated snow went careering along, down the glacier, for some time, after the great mass of the avalanche had come to rest. This route was manifestly impracticable. There was now no choice. We must retrace our steps to the summit of the curved peak, and go down by the same road that we had come up. We had eaten nothing since a few mouthfuls at 11 A.M., so between anxiety as to what lay before us and hunger, we felt far from happy. iSlever did anything feel more weary than that plod up the snow slopes to the peak. There we sat down to

rest ; I searched my pockets and found a small packet of tea and one cigarette. H. ate the tea, and I enjoyed the cigarette, and feeling our nerves in a more reliable condition we commenced the descent.

As far as it was practicable we went down by the crags avoiding the snow, and made each step as secure as possible by shoving tons of loose slates and shales over the precipice. Then we had to quit the rocky ridge and cross the little snow-filled couloir to the other ridge. The snow on this was the chief danger, for it would not bear the slightest weight and it covered up the sharp loose slates. The axes were no use to us, so taking off the rope we tied them together and lowered them down, then making a bowline hitch on XL] DANGERS OF THE DESCENT. 161

the other end of the rope we hung it on to a crag, and

with its help scrambled down fifty feet to another firm foothold. A smart chuck brought the end of the rope

free, and hitching it on again, we reached with its

help the more secure portion of the ridge, and felt

once more happy for all danger was past.

It took us some minutes to reach the place where

we had deposited a few biscuits and a little beef in a

tin, and then hurrying on we regained the summit

of the col at 6.30 P.M. As we crept down the rocks

towards the snow-filled couloir, we could not resist pausing to admire the marvellously beautiful sunset glow, which had flushed the whole range of the Rockies

with bright carmine ; while the nearer peaks and

glaciers glowed with deep crimson. Never before or

since have I seen such intense eveninfr tints. Nio-ht,

however, was close at hand, so on reaching the snow

we glissaded, and ran downwards. Crevasses then forced us on to the moraine. Instead of following our course of the morning we determined to keep to the left side of the glacier and ton*ent, and take chance for the difficulties, but it was obviously shorter. Running and leaping from boulder to boulder, wading streams, taking a straight line through everything, and making many a stumble amongst falling stones, we found ourselves at last, with much-bruised shins, but fortunately without a sprained ankle or broken limb, at the margin of the forest. It was now twilight, and this side of the valley M 162 AMOXG THE SELKIEK GLACIERS. [chap. was unknown to us, so as closely as possible we followed the course of the streams. When it plunged down in a waterfall, we slung ourselves downwards through fern and alder bushes by its side.

Ere we reached the ravine where the river was

arched over with snow, night was upon us ; but we had fixed a pole in the snow at the point where we left the forest, as a guide for us where to enter it on our return. The sky was overcast, and so dark was it now, that only by groping along did we find the pole ; and, leaving the river bed, we entered the alder scrub in pitchy darkness. It had been bad enough in the light, but now in the dark it was simply heart- breakino-. Never could one be sure of a footing on the slippery stems, and a fall every now and then nearly shook the life out of us. We hoped that we might not tread, by accident, on the tail of a grizzly, but took comfort at the thought of their deficiency in such appendages. We steered our course by the sound of the torrent, and by looking backwards at a certain peak which showed clear against a patch of sky. Then we were in the high pine forest, feeling with our axes for fallen logs, and fending off branches from our eyes. Once or twice we almost despaired of getting through, and thought of sitting on a log until morning. We could see nothing whatever, in fact I kept my eyes shut most of the time, and only now and then glanced over my shoulder to see was the sky visible and the "

XI.] AT LAST ! 163 peak we were steering by. In the high woods there was soon no use in looking out for the latter, so we steered solely by the sound of the torrent.

At last a white line was recognizable in the valley ahead, which we knew was a heap of boulders near our camp, and

" Be the. day weary Or be the day long,

At length it ringeth to evensong.

11 P.M. found us round a blazing fire, sipping chocolate and picking the bones of a marmot. And so our long and successful day came to its close.

M 2 — —

CHAPTER XII.

" For, the man Who, in this spirit, communes with the forms Of natui'e .... he cannot choose But seek for objects of a kindred love

In fellow-natures and a kindred jo}'." Wordsworth.

Fetch camp from Loop Valley. —A breakfast party. — Illecellewaet. A miner's camp.

After a good night's rest on our bed, in which the angles of the boulders made themselves very distinctly felt, we rose refreshed, and after breakfast made up two light packs and set off down the valley. As the stream was not at this early hour swollen to its full height, we were able to follow its bed for most of the way, and so avoided the difficulties of the forest. We thus reached the bottom of the valley in about an hour and a half from our camp, and, ascending the slope at the side of the high trestle-bridge, gained the railway track, which we followed till we reached Glacier House. A good dinner came in well after ;

CH. XII.] NEW CURE FOR BRONCHITIS. 165

camp meals, and oh ! for the delight of getting out of one's clothes after being in them for nearly a week, and the luxury of a bath, to say nothing of a bed without boulders for feathers.

Next morning we set off down the track again to fetch our tent and blankets from the Loop valley. A number of men were engaged on this portion of the railway, felling timber, building a snow-shed and repairing the line. While H. returned to Glacier to fetch a part of his camera which he had left behind, I accepted an invitation from the workmen to join them at breakfast. Amongst, them were the two youths who

had been our companions on the glacier field. Others

of them had long experience in the mountains, and their

yarns were full of interest. One rather elderly man

said that he had just returned from a fine spree at Donald. He had got invalided with bronchitis and

was sent down on full pay to hospital ; but on reaching Donald he found that there was a bad fever case in

the hospital, so not caring for such company he met a

" pal" with whom he went on the spree ; they spent all

their money, and now he was back to his work feeling

quite well. It did not seem a good argument for teeto-

talism, and was possibly a somewhat inaccurate account

but I mildly suggested that he was an old idiot, at his

time of life, not to be laying by some money for a rainy

day ; and, as this was Saturday, I asked him to come up

and join us at divine service the next afternoon. He 166 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

promised to do so and " would also bring some of the boys along." When Sunday came he was as good as his word. As we went on our way down the track we met another gang of fine-looking fellows coming up to work at felling trees. Two days afterwards they were swinging round a tree to shoot it down the mountain side. It slipped before they were ready, five of them were knocked over, more or less hurt, and one had his brains dashed out. Such is life ! —in the Selkirks ! As we were both armed with our cameras we took

a series of views on our way up to camp ; and then halting to enjoy our last meal in the Loop valley we shouldered the remaining swags and reached Glacier

House for supper.

We had heard much of the mines in the mountains near Illecellewaet, about fifteen miles to the westward, and as Mr. Corbin, the owner of some of them, invited us to go down to him for a couple of days, we determined to accept his invitation. He promised us horses to ride over a high range whence we could get good views of the mountains we had been at work amongst, and which would help us much with our map. Sunday was spent at Glacier House, and on Monday, August 13th, we left for Illecellewaet in company with Mr. Bell-Smith who hoped to make studies for future pictures. Mr. Corbin met us on the platform and we spent a pleasant evening in his shanty with his friends, all of them XII.] AN "AL-FRESCO" TOILET. 167 concerned in prospecting and mining. Of all occupations, that of the prospector seems to be the most attractive. Once a man tastes the charm of the wild woods and secluded mountain glens, with the adventures incident on such a life, and has all this stimulated by the prospects of a trump card turning up in the shape of a lode of silver ore or a sand bar of gold, everything else in the world seems flat. It is wrong to think that such men are always dare-devil desperadoes, given up to wild dissipation and excess, like the picture of them usually drawn in story-books. Here we were in the midst of prospectors of the most enthu- siastic type, all ready to face cheerily any hardship or danger, and as good fellows as you could meet with anywhere in the world. Nature in its wildness had humanized them. Its beauty was the charm of their lives, and the language by which every tree, and plant, and rock, and torrent spoke to them, had become so much a part of their existence, that life on the plain or in the centres of civilization would be for them the same as banishment.

As Mr. Corbin had no shake-down for us, we went to sleep at one of the inns. In fact the only one running ; for in consequence of bad work going on, the sheriff had come along and shut up the other.

The washing-basin for all guests was in the yard on a tree root. A strip of leather nailed to the side of the house and a piece of broken looking-glass 168 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. provided shavers with all the necessaries of life, but we were snug enough, though the house stood on legs iu a big pool of water caused by the overflow of the river. Some trees had been felled to make room for the " city," but, as the custom in British

Columbia is, when felling a big tree to fix in its side a spring board on which the men stand, and cut it across at about eight or ten feet from the ground, they leave a stump most difficult to get rid of, and here were these great stumps, charred by fire mixed up among the wooden houses. The city seemed to have no plan, but on the map which we saw it was laid out in the most splendid series of lots, and two steamers were represented as plying on the river—which, by the way, is a glacier torrent flowing at about twenty miles per hour.

Late in the evening a train of thirty mules arrived from the mines belonging to the Selkirk Mining Company with heavy loads of galena fixed on the pack-saddles by means of the famous diamond hitch.

The packs were taken off, laid in a row before the office, and the mules turned into an inclosure, where they rolled and refreshed themselves after their long day's work.

Next morning after an early breakfast Mr. Corbin had four horses ready, one for each of us and one for himself. His companion Mr. Ben Macord, known as " Mountaineer Ben," accomiDanied us on foot. Macord XII.] VIEW FROM CORBIN'S PASS. 169

had devoted his whole life to prospecting and its kindred occupations. Every part of British Columbia

was known to him. As a boy he had served on the United States Boundary Commission. In Riel's

rebellion he had served on the prairie, in the Rocky

Mountain Rangers; and after a little conversation

we Avere fortunate in being able to persuade him to

come back with us to " Glacier " and help us till we

left the mountains. Our route lay up a zigzag path made by Mr,

Corbin through the forest, on the steep northern slope

of the valley.

We rose steadily, gaining more and more extended views of the valley, and when past the forest we

entered upon grassy Alps, ablaze with scarlet and yellow

flowers. Such an Alpine garden I have seldom seen.

The path now and then was across the face of slopes

so precipitous that our guide advised us all to dismount

and lead the horses, which we did ; and at length when the aneroid registered an elevation of 4,000 feet above the railway the summit of the pass was gained.

From this point our view extended up the valley of the Illecellewaet to Mount Sir Donald. Mount

Bonney and the Dawson range presented an entirely new aspect, and the mountains and lateral valleys on the other side of the Illecellewaet formed a fine panorama.

Besides this view over ranges now familiar, there was 170 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. that on the other side of the pass, of which up till now we had seen nothing. Here we looked down upon the north fork of the Illecellewaet with its numerous glacier- fed tributaries, beyond which some snow-seamed rock peaks rose into strange pinnacles and crags. The sides of these valleys were clad in an almost unbroken

covering of forest.

I delayed to take a few observations and photographs, and Mr. Bell-Smith began a picture, but Mr. Corbin hurried us off, for he had sent word to have dinner

ready at the mines and feared it would be spoiled.

We might, he said, have what time we liked here on our way back.

The path now went down in zigzags through a narroAv glen, and when about 2,000 feet from the summit, we reached the mines. They consisted of a few short levels

driven into the hill side,with heaps of quartz full of galena piled near the entrance. Seven men worked these levels, and all lived with the " boss," his wife and child, in a tent built on a little platform of logs, forming a kind

of bracket on the steep mountain side. Our hostess was from Dowlais, South Wales ; she had been eighteen months in America, and twelve of it had been spent in this lonely valley, never before entered by a woman.

The youngster had not much room for a playground, as the whole place was one continuous precipice. The dinner she gave us and the hot cake and stewed prunes were most excellent. In 1884 the first prospectors of XII.] A NARROW ESCAPE. 171

these valleys (Mr. Corbin was one of them) encountered

great difficulties, privations, and misfortunes. They

were but fulfilling their destiny in finding new abodes

for mankind ; and here was the first woman following up their work, and turning a mere resting-place into a

comfortable home. The next move towards civilization

and reclamation of the wilderness, will be the making

of a road up the valley. Until that is done the produce

of these rich lodes of ore will be next to worthless. As we were anxious to have some spare time on the pass, we made but little delay at the camp. At

starting we nearly met with an accident, for the horse

Mr. Bell-Smith rode was accustomed to go first, and on being placed further back in the line he objected, and attempted to rush past the others where the path was so narrow that to pass was impossible. One horse was of course swung round and his hind quarters shoved off the path. He held on well with his fore legs, but only after a desperate scramble succeeded in regaining the trail. The horse accustomed to lead was now placed first, and then they all toiled along patiently and steadily up the zigzag path. A " fool hen " got up from some scrub and alighted on a low branch of a pine. I took a photograph of him, and then tried to knock him down with a stone. He was about four yards over my head, and a large stone I threw hit him and pushed him off the branch, but he clung on by his claws and fluttered back into his former position, and went on cran- 172 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. ing his neck from side to side in the most inquisitive manner, exactly as though he were asking " What on earth did you do that for ? " I merely flung a handful

of earth at him in answer, and away he flew, crowing, to the other side of the ravine. Near the miners' camp I had

seen a tiny humming-bird flitting from flower to flower.

These were the only birds seen by us during our day's

ride. On reaching the pass, Mr. Bell-Smith sat him-

self down to paint a picture, H. to take photographs,

while Mr. Corbin and I strolled away up the mountain

to the eastward, following a path worn by the feet of

mountain-goats and cariboo. Mr, Corbin had many

a tale to tell of adventures in the wild valleys beneath

us, and of the dangers encountered while scrambling

about these huge precipices, . searching for lodes of

ore.

These game paths, such as: we were following,

continued along all the mountain ridges, and often orave

prospectors the clue by which they^ found their way

out of all kinds of dangerous places in safety. On many of the eminences we gained, and wherever there

was a little plateau commanding a view of the ravines below, there was always a bare patch which Mr. Corbin

said was the stamping place of the wild goats ; —here

the sentinel of a little flock will stand looking out for

danger and stamp with excitement till the ground is

beaten perfectly hard and bare. On this ridge I met

with, for the first time, a beautiful little Alpine flower, XII.] PROSPECTORS AT FISH CREEK. 173

Erigonum timhellatum, it was here growing in great quantities. Having made a sketch and taken another photograph we rejoined our companions, and then resumed our journey, descending over the flowery Alps to the dark pine wood, and then on down to the railway through bush and forest where the path was cumbered by many a fallen log which the horses had to jump in succession. Another night was pleasantly spent in Mr. Corbin's shanty. Many pipes were smoked and many yarns spun. Amongst those who dropped in to chat was a certain " doctor " from Colorado, connected with some smelting firm there, and he had come up to see whether the output in the Selkirks would make it worth while starting a branch of their business here. We were asked many questions as to the big valley we had entered to the southward, and we discovered that it had that very week been entered by prospectors from Illecellewaet and that they had called it

Fish Creek. They had entered this big valley by ascending Flat Creek valley, and struck it much farther from its head than we had. Next morning we found that there was a special train coming up the line from the westward, with Government inspectors and that we could get a-passage in it. So we hurried over our breakfast to be ready. Ben Macord was there too—ready, just as he stood in his shirt-sleeves and trousers, with no luggage 174 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [cH. xii.

but his miner's pick ; whether it was for a day or a week or a month, it was all one to him. Soon the train arrived with the inspectors sitting on a truck covered by an awning, pushed along in front the engine. We took seats in the caboose, but our journey was very tedious, for we stopped at every trestle-bridge and they were innumerable. Each had to be inspected and measured, and then on we went. And so at last we reached Glacier. In this trip we had not only gained valuable observations for our map, but we had got a glimpse of human life, full of interest to us, different from anything in the old world, and sure to return often to our minds as one of the pleasant memories of the

Selkirks. CHAPTER XIII.

" This is the torest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Bearded with moss and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic.

is Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and patient ; Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest." Longfellow. kStart with horse for Beaver Creek. —Camp on the Tote Road. —Ford Bear Creek. —Impenetrable forest.

Two expeditions now presented themselves to us as the most important for the prosecuting of our pioneering work. One was a journey from Glacier to the upper j)ortion of Beaver Creek, on which we hoped to have opportunities of mapping out all that face of the main

range which we had not as yet seen ; of inspecting the eastern side of Mount Sir Donald ; and learning more concerning the curious plateaus which we had seen from the ao'Ste of Sir Donald, and which wc heard were known to hunters as the Prairie Hills. The other expedition was one concerning which Ben Macord was very keen, 176 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. from a prospecting point of view, the exploration of the valley beyond the Asulkan pass. On both these expeditions we hoped to use the pack-horse and, as j^Fr.

Marpole had kindly sent up men to clear the trail in the

Asulkan valley, and they were now at work, we decided on taking the Beaver Creek expedition first.

On August 16th we made up packs with a tent,

blankets and provisions for three ; packed the cameras and surveying instruments in our knapsacks, and placing with these a rifle and our axes we were soon ready to start. About nine miles from " Glacier," to the eastward, was a station called Bear Creek, and, as this would be our starting point from the line of railway, it was decided that H. and Ben should walk on with the horse in the forenoon, and that I should wait for the

East-bound train in the afternoon and take on the packs to Bear Creek.

To lead a horse from " Glacier " to Bear Creek was no

easy undertaking ; at a hundred yards from the inn the difficulties commenced, in the passage of the glacier torrent. Our first idea was to ford this stream, and we went up and down the bank to find some suitable place. We should never have dreamed it possible for a horse to get across alive, but Ben had such large experience of this kind of work that, in all these matters, we trusted to him and usually found he was right. This time, however, it was no go. The horse

would not take to the water ; and as he, too, had had XIII.] DANGEROUS CROSSINGS. 177 large experiences of mountaineering in the Rockies, we placed much confidence in his opinion, and gave up the idea of fording as impossible.

The only other thing for us now to do, was to take the horse up the embankment and cross the high trestle- bridge, on the railway. Two difficulties again lay in

our road ; one was that the bridge was not floored, it was merely a series of transverse bars, and the second was that while we were on it some stray locomotive might come along and knock us all to bits. To guard against this latter danger we got the agent at Glacier to telephone along the track in both directions to know if the course was clear. Then getting two pieces of plank we laid one down on the bridge and induced the

horse to walk on to it : when he stepped on to the next board, we took up the first and laid it down in front, and when he moved on to that we shifted on the other, and so slowly, after shifting the boards about ten times, our cayeuse was safe on the further shore.

Leaving H. and Ben to go on their way and cross all other streams and bridges as best they could,

1 returned to the inn, and when the train arrived about 2 P.M. I took the packs on board, and crossing Rogers pass left the cars at Bear Creek. Several times I

looked out from the train for the horse, but in vain ; and it was not till I had waited for an hour and thought of all kinds of accidents that might have befiiUen them, N 178 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. that my companions turned up, with a vohinteer helper who had joined them en route. As the evening was advancing we immediately set to work to pack the horse, and as Ben ^'as an adept at the diamond hitch, the packs were put on so that they could neither loosen nor fall off. The mysteries of this famous hitch are too complicated to explain here,

and, as it was not till we had done the thing about

ten times that we began to do it right, its complexity may be judged. Roughly speaking, the method of packing a horse

right is this : you make up your goods into three packs,

one goes on each side of the pack-saddle and one

between them, on top. The weight of the side packs

must be equal ; that is the first important point. The

packs are attached to the saddle by slight cord, and then

comes the most important thing in the whole affair.

This is the synch, or belly-band, to one end of which is

spliced a long rope, and at the other end is a hook

through which the rope, after passing over the packs, is

rove, a series of bights almost like the game of " cat's

cradle," surrounds all the packs, " fore and aft," and then by putting your knee against the horse and

hauling on the last end, everything jambs itself tight,

and a single hitch of the end to the synch makes everything secure. The rope we used was one which had seen some vicissitudes of fortune in my company.

Its first orood work was to save the lives of some of xiii.] SEARCHING FOR THE "TOTE ROAD." 179

our party in a bad slip, near the summit of the Balm-

horn in the Bernese Oberland. It was next used as

the mizen topping-hft of a fifteen-ton yawl. It was

my tent-rope in the New Zealand Alps. It was the

bridle used on a deep-sea trawl that went down to

1,000 fathoms beneath the surface of the Atlantic.

It trained a colt. Now it was in our diamond hitch, and I regret to say that its old age was disgraced, by its being used for cording one of my boxes on the voyage home.

At Bear Creek station the railway runs high above the

forest-filled valley. And as our first desire was to reach

the bottom of the valley and cross the river, 1,000 feet

below, we had to look for some practicable route for the

horse. We were told that the " tote road," as the

track was called, which was made for the purpose

of bringing up material for the construction of the

railway, was low down in the valley and in good repair.

Could we but get down to this we might follow it to

where the river might be fordable.

Our new-found ally said he knew the way down.

We soon proved that he did not. Then we went along

the railway to the eastward, Avhere a construction train

was on a siding with a gang of men living in it. We

interviewed the " boss," an Italian, and he told us to

follow on as we were going, and when we came to a

certain big boulder, to strike into the forest on our

right, and we should soon hit a descending trail. There N 2 180 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. were a good many big boulders, so wlien we recognized one as specially "big" we struck into the forest and found ourselves in a perfect maze of fallen trees. The forest, too, was half burnt out and still smouldering, so between dense smoke, black dust, fallen logs, and sharp broken branches, it was just the place not to have a horse in. However Ben faced everything. He led the cayeuse up to logs which he leaped

most skilfully. Then crash, crash ! down the steep slope through charred branches we made our way. The trees every now and then became quite insurmountable, and we struck off now right, now left. Then we were completely stopped, and we had to face back up hill again. The difficulties at last seemed so great, and the descent, so precipitous, that lest the horse should get a bad fall, we halted. Ben and I stayed with the horse, while H. and the volunteer went off to explore for a trail. As long as possible we kept up communication with them by shouting, but they got beyond hearing, and after waiting^ half-an-hour and hearings nothing of them we started again, going straight down the mountain side. The horse got some nasty falls,, but Ben always managed to keep a grijD of his halter. At last we saw a trail below us, simultaneously we heard the shouts

of our companions ; they had evidently struck it further up, and were following it down, and after a few leaps, slips and tumbles amongst the fallen trees, we reached the trail with loss of nothing save XIII.] A LUXURIOUS SUPPEE. IBl the skin of our shins and sundry bits of cloth from our garments.

The trail we were now on led us down to the tote road, which, though covered with weeds and encumbered a little by fallen trees, promised us good travelling in the direction we wished to go. Along the sides of the road raspberries grew in profusion, and the delicious fruit was most refreshing after the heat and toil of the descent. As darkness was closing in we could delay little, but following up the road to the westward we reached a stream, near some ruined log huts, and there in the middle of the road we pitched our camp, lit our fire, and said farewell to our new acquaintance, who struck straight up through the forest towards the railway track. We boiled some rice and ate it with squashed blueberries, raspberries, and sugar, and so made a most luxurious supper. And then went to sleep to the music of the waters of Bear Creek.

The early morning was, we knew, the best time to ford

the stream ; for after the snow slopes had been refriger- ated by the cold night air, and the supply of water thus lessened, the creek would be at its lowest. We had

not as yet seen the river, though its roar tilled the air.

After an early breakfast we broke camp at 6.15 A.M., and leaving the tote road struck down through the

damp, rank undergrowth of the forest. Here the

devil's club grew luxuriantly, and was gay with its 182 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. tufts of coral red berries. The descent into the gorge worn by the torrent was most difficult, but eventually we found a safe route for the horse, and reached a shingle fiat strewn with fallen trees, one of which completely bridged the torrent, which was foaming wildly over its stony bed. Selecting a spot where it seemed that the horse could cross most easily, we took his packs off, and hitching the halter on his neck headed him for the stream. He went on step by step with the greatest caution, until reaching a shingle flat in mid-stream he refused to go any further. We expended all our blandishments on him in vain, even the stones we threw had no effect. Ben suggested my crossing over on the fallen tree, which no sooner had I done than the horse entered the worst current in the whole passage, and though nearly carried off his feet and swept to destruction, he reached the shore in safety and came to me. The whole cause of his halting in mid-stream was simply that he saw there was no one on the other side to receive him. We found no little difficulty in balancing ourselves on the fallen trunk when crossing ; but Ben, more used to such work, walked over with apparent ease, carrying on his shoulder one of the horse's packs, and then went back for another.

The blueberries growing here were the largest and richest we had yet come across, but we dared not spend time gathering them with all kinds of XIII.] DIFFICULTIES OF THE ASCENT. 183 unknown difficulties ahead. We were now at the very bottom of the ravine formed by the precipitous slopes of

Mount Carrol or Mount Macdonald, as it is now called, and the Hermit range. High above us to the northward the railway crept round the mountain buttresses, protected for several miles by continuous shedding. We must now ascend the spur of Mount Macdonald, where it was completely forest-clad, and crossing its ridge try to make our way into the Beaver Ci'eek valley, on the side nearest Mount Sir Donald. After zigzagging about through dense tangled forest we came in about one hour from the ford to the precipitous ascent.

The forest was bad enough where the slope was gentle, but now, if there had been no forest whatever, it would have been difficult to have made our way upwards with a horse, but as it was, the whole slope was covered with fallen trees in every stage of decay, amid which large hemlocks, and cedars, and spruce grew luxuriantly. There Avas an undergrowth

of rhododendrons, devil's club, and blueberry bushes, and many of the big half-rotten logs were ready to

slide downwards with the slightest touch. Few people in this country would believe that such a route was possible for any beast of burden, but Ben was used

to this kind of work, and he and the horse seemed to

understand each other perfectly ; so between leaping logs and making sudden rushes upwards, we gradually

found that we were rising higher and hiijher. 184 AMONG THE SELKIllK GLACIERS. [chap.

A series of spurts seemed to be the only way of getting the horse up, and when making one of these,

the scuffle and smashing of branches w^as horrible. It

seemed impossible that flesh and blood and skin

could stand such Avork for lonof. Sometimes we could help matters by hewing a gap through a half burnt log, and making a passage for the horse. On one occasion I was ahead looking for the most open route, and was in the act of hewing a huge rotten log in twain when I heard the scuffle of the horse rushing upwards, then came a pause and a prolonged crash, " " " and H. sang out, The horse is gone ! Gone ! where ? " " Down, of course," and down through the trees sure enough I could see the upturned tail and hind quarters, but the head "svas bent underneath.

He was brought up in that position against a tree trunk, and remained perfectly motionless. I was very hot, and as Ben and II. were hurrying downwards I threw off my knapsack and sat down to see the result. When Ben got down to the poor beast he inspected his condition with much concern. I felt sure his neck was broken, and that he was stone- dead. Judge my surprise, when on Ben giving him a good shove, and holding on to the halter he tumbled over the log, alighted on his feet, just shook himself, and looked but little the worse for the tumble. Thanks to the diamond hitch the packs never came off, and as the horse rolled over and over XIII.] A HARD STEUGGLE. 185 they saved him from being torn badly by the snags and splinters through which he had fallen for about sixty feet. A little readjustment of the pack was necessary, and while they were at this, I swung myself once more into the straps of my knapsack, and returning to the big rotten log about four feet in diameter, had completed a passage through it before the horse had scrambled up so far.

Then he stood panting for a few seconds, and then came another rush amid crashing branches, and at last, at 10.80, the summit of the ridge was gained. Just at the top of the ridge the forest was more open and free from scrub, but the huge pines grew so thickly that we had to shape our course by compass. After about a hundred yards of comparatively easy going we came to the descent towards Beaver Creek.

Through the tree-tops we could get glimpses of the mountains beyond the valley, but any other outlook was blocked by the great pine trunks, as thick as the stalks in a corn-field and as big as ships' masts.

Bad as the ascent of the ridge had been, the descent towards the Beaver was far worse. The horse was scarcely able to move, without being in imminent peril of going head over heels all the rest of the way. After descending, with great difficulty, about two hundred feet, we halted and held a brief council of war. To

take the horse further seemed impossible ; and no opening offered a view ahead. The best thing which 186 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. suggested itself seemed to be to leave the horse on the summit of the ridge and ascend the arete of Mount Mac- donald, till we could get a view over the valley which might suffice for mapping purposes. From the way the precipitous buttresses ran down from the main range, we kneAv that the gorges between would be invisible, and therefore we should give up some details we were anxious to obtain. To ascend the ridge offered partial success. Advance to the Beaver valley on this side, seemed well nigh hopeless. However, we were not going to abandon it without good reason, so Ben and I decided to go on and explore, leaving

H. in charge of the horse. Throwing off our knapsacks and every other encumbrance, and taking nothing but the axes, which we found most useful in sucli a climb, we started downwards.

Seldom did our feet touch the solid earth. The whole descent for 1,000 feet was one series of gym- nastic feats. Now and again a tree would have fallen in a right direction, and we could creep down its trunk for 50 feet or more. The sound of the river grew louder and louder. At

last the brink of a cliff was reached, and there, 100 feet

below us, the Beaver swirled and foamed along.

It proved to be a swift torrent about 100 yards wide, with a considerable volume of water, making fording

out of the question, and rafting seemed equally im-

possible. The land at the other side of the river was ;

XIII.] WE CAMP ON THE RIDGE. 187 comparatively flat, and from it the forest-clad slopes curved up to the strange square summits of the Prairie hills. We had been told that some trail existed on this side of the river, and this hope led us on. Now we had proved to demonstration that no such trail was there. The place was absolutely impassable for a horse, so there was nothing for it, but to retrace our steps and scramble up through the terrible forest once more.

To retrace one's steps correctly in such a maze as this needs no little skill. Ben was an adept at such forest guiding ; but when we considered we were within hearing distance we lifted our voices and got an answering shout from H., and thus found our way back to the horse. It was now too late in the day to think

of any other move ; there seemed to be nothing for it but to camp where the ridge was flattest. The worst of it was that we were a long way from a spring of water, which we had taken note of far below, and there was no grass or herbage of any sort to furnish feed for the horse. Having selected the best hollow we could find for the tent, Ben led the horse down to the spring for a drink, and then returned with the kettle full for our use. We picked the tops of rhododendron bushes for the horse, but he would not touch them, so we had to spare him some scraps of biscuit the poor beast seemed of such a friendly nature that he would go nowhere to look for food, but preferred 188 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. to stand as close to us as possible, looking into the fire while we cooked.

The greatest danger of these forest camps is, of course, that of setting fire to the dry lichens (which hang like beards to the trees) and to the dry pine needles with which the ground is thickly strewn, and thus starting a huge conflagration. Another danger is that throughout the living forest there are innumerable dead trees, charred by former fires, which stand up barely poised on end, and come crashing down at the smallest touch, or after lieavy rain, when the dead w^ood becomes heavy from saturation, or when a puff of wind with a thunderstorm sends them down like ninepins.

The great calmness of the Selkirk climate is proved by the large number of these trees in a state of un- stable equilibrium. On this occasion we had a good illustration of what I have described. With our camp

things we brought a small net hammock ; this we slung between two big trees, and I lay in it to rest.

We had not examined the trees critically, but as I lay and looked upwards I thought I saw the tree to which my feet were slung, swing about in a suspicious

manner. I instantly jumped out of the hammock : the tree was quite dead and ready to fall.

Both for fun and for safety we determined to have it down ; so getting the loop of a rope round the trunk, we pushed it up as high as we could, with one of the innumerable dead poles lying about. Then protecting xni.] FOREST MUSIC. 189

ourselves behind a big, healtiiy balsam we hauled away.

The tree gave two or three slight swings and then

came crashing: down, making the earth tremble with

its fall.

A few little chipnunks and the tip-tap of the wood-

pecker were the only evidences of life. The heat in the

forest was very great, and the gentle evening breeze,

quite unfelt by us and imperceptible so far as any

visible movement of the tree tops was concerned, made

its presence known by a weird music, like the strains

of an iEolian harp, pervading all the air.

Though we were about 5,000 feet above the sea,

the forest was so sultry we had no need of our sleeping bags. The trees get heated by the sun during the day

and so keep the temperature high during the night.

When we had safely picketed our steed close by the tent, we sought the repose which he too needed badly, after all his scrambles and tumbles. "

CHAPTER XIV.

"The Pine, —Magnificent! nay, sometimes almost terrible. Other trees, tufting crag or hUl, yield to the forms and sway of gi'ound, but the pine rises in serene resistance, self-contained. RUSKIN.

Excursion up Mount ilacdonald. — Eecross Bear Creek. —DifiBculties of the Tote road.

While eating our breakfast at 5 A.M., we made plans

for the day. Our great diJfficulty was the horse ; we wished that he might vanish into thin air now that he had brought our provisions so far, for if we were rid of him, we could make a lengthened expedition from our present camp. As, however, we did not see our way to help the poor beast into the spirit-world by slow starvation, and as he looked so patient and friendly, although he must have felt very hungry, we were obliged to

Sfive him due consideration. We decided, therefore, that he must not remain for another twenty-four hours without food, and that however high we might wish to climb during the day, we must return to camp CH. XIV.] THE ASCENT OF MACDONALD. 191 in time to proceed down through the steep forest with the horse and regain the banks of Bear Creek before dark—that was the nearest place where anything of the nature of herbage could be found.

Packing the cameras, plane table, and some provisions in our knapsacks, we set off at six o'clock with the intention of getting up as high as was possible on Mount Macdonald, in the time we allowed ourselves. We followed the ridge upwards through the forest, which here was very dense and choked with logs and scrub, and, as the ascent was very steep, our progress was slow. Gradually the ridge narrowed, and as we skirted the brink of a great declivity overhanging Beaver Creek, we got through the trunks, a striking view of the river, meandering through its forest-clad valley, and of the eastern face of Mount Sir Donald with a hanging glacier close to the summit. Below this glacier the mountain looked nearly as difficult as on the side facing Glacier House, and the mountain spurs between us and it were high and precipitous. From these obser^ vations, the advice I would give to any one desirous of approaching the range from the eastward, is this

—Eaft the Beaver below its junction with Bear

Creek : there is, I believe, a trail leading up the valley on the right bank of the river; follow this till opposite Sir Donald, and then re-cross the Beaver as best you can. 192 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

After about three hours' scrambhng througli forest,

the trees became more gnarled and dwarfed in their

growth, and the mossy liollows held banks of snow. Then we issued from the dark gloom of the pines

on to a rocky ridge, into the blaze of the sunshine

and the full view of a wide panorama including the

most striking features of the Selkirks, the rocky

peaks on the Watershed, the strange Prairie hills,

the glaciers of the Hermit range, and beneath our feet the dark, deep ravine of Rogers pass, through which the railway wound its way, looking from our elevation like a thin hair-line twisting about with innumerable curves. The huge cliffs bounding the pass, and towering 5,000 feet above it, presented from this point of view a most imposing spectacle, while

" On the torrent's brink beneath Behohl the tall pines dwindled as to shrnbs " In dizziness of distance

We ascended the rocky ridge, now gaining views down the cliffs to Rogers pass on the right, and then into the great ravine filled with a glacier on our left. At 10 A.M. we halted at a bank of snow, to partake of some food. The ascent was for the most part like going up a great staircase, the whole ridge being broken into angular blocks of rock. The rocks composing the ridge of Mount Macdonald are probably the most ancient of any we met with in the

Selkirks. Mica schists j)redominated, these in many XIV.] THE VIEW OVER BEAVER CREEK. 193

places were full of small garnets, in some cases replaced by curious pseudomorpbs of mica. Professor Bonney, who kindly examined a specimen of the rock with many

others which I brought home, expressed his opinion

that it was no doubt of Archaean age.

At 11 A.M. we had reached the length of our

tether, so far as time was concerned ; so Ave halted

on a little peak, which is plainly visible from the railway, 3,000 feet below, and setting up the plane table, I went to work at my mapping, while H. took a series of photographs and Ben prospected for specimens of rock. It was a most lovely day, and the view over the Beaver Creek valley to the Prairie hills, and away to the whole range of the Rockies, was most splendid. The further we advanced, however, towards the summit of Mount Macdonald, the more the buttresses flanking the main range closed in on each other, and offered less favourable positions for delineating their outlines.

We now became more impressed than ever, with the great difficulties which would have to be encountered, in any attempt to travel up the valley, at the foot of the spurs from the main range, and it seemed to us, that in order to get to the eastern base of Mount Sir Donald, the best route of all would be, to cross the watershed direct from Glacier

House by one of the cols near Eagle peak. These we hoped we might have time to explore. o 194 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

At 12.30 P.M. we began to retrace our steps, and after a delightful rock-scramble in the bright, clear air, we re-entered the forest, and plunged and slid and clambered down through the everlasting scrub and the tangle of dead and livincy trees.

It ^vas easy enough to keep the right course when ascending, as all ribs of the mountain converged to the arete. Descending was quite another matter, and ere long we became convinced that the ridge we

were following was not the one we had ascended by.

Being completely enveloped in vegetation, we could

see nothing that was a hundred yards distant in any

direction. The sky was only visible in small patches.

We first thought we had diverged too much to the

right, and made a most difficult traverse to the

left ; then by my aneroid I knew that we were below

the level of our camp, so we crossed back to the

right, and ascending a couple of hundred feet, found

our camp and our horse all safe and sound. We

halted to boil the kettle and have dinner, and then making up the packs, we stowed them on the horse

and becran the descent to Bear Creek, slidino- and

smashing through dead branches just as before. Ben

showed the most consummate skill in being able to keep a grip of the halter and stop the horse

whenever, after jumping a fallen log, he seemed in

danger of going all the rest of the way in a single tumble. The shades of evening were closing in when XIV.] A SWOLLEN TORRENT. 195

the more level forest near the creek was reached,

and just before dark we were on the margin of the

river. The packs were quickly off, and the poor

cayeuse lost no time in beginning his evening meal

off the rich tufts of grass, which he seemed to appre-

ciate after his fast of thirty-six hours. The river

was now so much " up " with the melting of the snow during a long, hot day, that fording Avas quite

out of the question. The water was pouring over the tree we had used as a bridge—we could see that

it was over four feet deeper than when we had crossed before, and the volume of water passing down was therefore more than twice as great. This was Saturday night ; we were anxious if possible to get back to

" Glacier " for Sunday, but there was no use thinking of fording till the chill of night had sealed up the snowfields, and so reduced the waters to a lower level.

Close to the river we pitched our tent. The blueberries furnished us with a luxurious meal, and as we had eaten all our bread we took this opportunity to make a good-sized loaf with tlour, soda, and tartaric acid, and baking it in an oven of heated stones, over which we built up a fire of fragrant cedar logs. When the loaf was safe out of the oven we carefully extinguished every spark of fire, and, turning in, slept soundly, though the torrent was making the very ground tremble with its roar. o 2 196 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

Sunday, August Idth.—We rose at 3.30, and not waiting to cook breakfast lest the river should bcoin to rise, we packed up our goods, and driving the horse into the water, carried the packs on our shoulders across by the tree. The river had fallen five feet durino^ the nio-ht.

Arrived at the other side, we adjusted the packs on the pack-saddle, and with our knapsacks, containing cameras and instruments, on our shoulders, we struck up through the forest, and on reaching the tote road halted for breakfast. As we faced up towards the great gorge of Rogers pass, the torrent, railway, and tote road were found to draw near together, so we determined to follow the tote road as long as possible. All along we had found it much cumbered by fallen trees, but after breakfast our troubles beoran in earnest—the further we sot into the gorge the more the forest was devastated by fire. Here and there the charred trunks were smouldering ^ the air was choked with smoke ; and at every twenty yards a huge tree lay right across the trail. Forcing our way through scrub, and often obliged by fallen trees to make wide detours, so as to get past one log which lay across our path, was most heart-breaking

work ; still we progressed slowly.

Then we came to a very wild stream, dashing right down in a series of cascades towards the torrent several hundred feet below. The bridge that once had existed XIV.] FORDING MOUXTAIX STREAMS. 197

was gone, and how to get past seemed an insoluble

problem. Like all other mountain streams in these regions, every pool was choked up with fallen logs.

Throwing off my knapsack, I scrambled, partly over logs, partly through water, to the other side. I saw

that the next pool below offered a better chance for

the horse, so shouting to Ben to this effect, I proceeded downwards. The roar of the cascade prevented

my words being heard, and just as I reached the lower

jDool I saw Ben in the agonies of trying to steady the

horse on the slippery logs ; then quickly followed a

splash and a scramble, and the next instant I saw the poor beast taking a somersault down the cascade

to the pool at my feet. If he plunged at all, he would probably fall to a pool lower down, so seizing the halter

I held on to him. He gasped and panted a good deal,

but I did not let him get up till Ben had come down

to my help, and then Ave landed him in safety : be-

yond a few scratches, no harm was done. Soon after

this our plucky little steed made a splendid clean

leap over another watercourse, and then we got on t(^

the tote road once more.

Our progress was now slower than ever owing to

fallen trees, fire, and smoke. We soon came to the conclusion that our only chance lay in striking up

straight for the railway, which was about 300 feet above

us. All this portion of the railway is covered by snow

sheds, so we had to select a line of ascent which would 198 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

lead us to one of the few openings, and this involved

a scramble up through fallen timber and slopes of

stones lying at the highest angle possible for stability,

and ready to move downwards at the slightest disturbance.

After severe panting and scrambling, we at last

got to within twenty feet of the track. One rush

more, and we would be up ! Ben mopped the perspira-

tion from his face, and led off for the last scramble,

but at this moment the horse put his foot on a slippery

plank and stumbled. I was beside Ben, and clutched

the halter to help him to hold the poor beast up,

but it was no use—his whole weight was on us. The

halter was jerked from our grip, and toppling back-

wards he went down twenty feet, alighted on the

top of his head, and then over o.nd over in a cloud

of sticks, stones, and dust, for full one hundred feet.

It was too horrible—I felt certain he Avas killed, but at a hundred feet he came to a sudden stop, and

we saw a slash-up of dust run along the slope !

A winter avalanche had carried away a lot of telegraph wires, which were now lying amongst the

cUhris, and into these wires the horse tumbled, and

one of them coming across the packs, and (fortunately

for him) not against his body, brought him to a

stand.

On reaching the poor animal, we found him in a kneeh'ng position, with his nose buried in the dust. XIV.] A BAD FALL. 199 and beneath him a confused mass of branches aftbrding no foothold.

There was a terrible strain on the wire, and we feared at any moment it might break. Our first work

was to cut the rope and remove the packs ; then to hew away with our axes at the branches beneath him, while H. hung on to the halter, lest he should make a fresh start down the slope. When we found the horse could get his legs to the ground, we scraped a kind of track ahead of him, and in about twenty minutes everything was ready for a plunge upwards. With the spring of the wire (which was hitched against the back of the saddle) this was accomplished, and then, minus the packs, the poor beast gained the level of the railway in safety. H., Ben, and I carried the packs up on our shoulders ; and then, after a short halt, we spliced the synch rope, got the packs once more into the diamond hitch, and entering the snow shed shaped our course for Rogers pass. For about three miles we enjoyed the cool shade of the sheds, and though we were alarmed at one time, by a tea-train from Van- couver rushing past and leaving us no more than two feet space clear of the horse, and on another occasion by a stray locomotive, which, by the way, vouchsafed

us no warning whistle ; we reached Rogers pass, and halted for lunch. As the West-bound Express would soon be coming along, we removed the packs from the horse. H, and Ben then led him on to " Glacier," 200 AMONG THE SELKIEK GLACIERS. [ch. xiv. four miles distant, and I followed in the train with the packs. So, after a hard day which we had commenced at

4 A.M., we were still not too late to hold our appointed evening service, enlivened by the singing of some well known hymns. Mr. Bell-Smith, who was not only a painter, but a musician, had spent some of his spare time during the week in forming a choir and practising hymns, which were now heartily sung by the inmates of the little inn, with no accompaniment save Nature's own music—the roar of the glacier torrent outside. —

CHAPTER XV.

' ' The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies." Psalm cix. 18.

Start for Asulkan Pass. —Roast pork. — Mountain gnats. —A narrow bivouac. —Reach the Geikie and Dawson glaciers. —Thunder and lightning. —A morning visitor.

As our days in the Selkirks were now numbered it behoved us to waste no time. Accordingly, early on Monday morning, we set to work and got our packs ready for a fresh start. The photographs had to be looked after and fresh plates put in. Our purpose now was to cross the Asulkan glacier pass and camp in the valley beyond. Thanks to the excellent work done by four men during the past week the trail was clear, and the glacier stream bridged, so that we could take the horse about four miles up the valley. For the rest of the journey we should take the packs on our backs. This being so, H. determined not to take his camera, but as I was particularly anxious to secure good photographs 202 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. of the Dawson range and Geikie glacier, I packed my half-plate camera, which wa& much lighter than H.'s, and my " detective," into my knapsack with the surveying instruments and various items of clothing.

When to these were added the cooking utensils, which fell to my lot, the pack weighed about forty pounds. Between blankets, waterproof sheet, and provisions, a rifle and ammunition, Ben and H. had about an equal share.

We packed as much of these things as possible on the horse, and took a tent to pitch at the furthest point to which he could go.

Charlie, whose business it was to watch the white stones in front of the inn, was off duty after the last train had come and gone, so he came with us to fetch back the horse, and our old friend " Jeff " came too. Immediately after the departure of the last train we fixed the packs on the poor cayeuse, who was much rested after a night in the stable and a good feed, and we started in Indian file up the Asulkan valley. The fallen trees had been sawn by cross-cuts, a path excavated from the hill side ; an excellent bridge, perfectly safe for the horse, spanned the torrent, and was a most splendid illustration of rough- and-ready engineering skill. Our next crossing was made by the log by which we had got over before, and where the horse had to wade. The final

crossins was near to where the stream issued in a XV.] WE CAMP ON A GRAVEL FLAT. 203 wild rush from its canon. As it was late in the evening the stream was very high, and the water flowed over the single tree trunk that had been felled for a bridge.

Here we had to unload the packs and carry them across on our shoulders, with difficulty steadying ourselves while the water went over our boots.

" Jeff," in trying to follow, was swept away and, after disappearing under some logs and being nearly drowned, he considered himself fortunate to regain the safe side of the stream, and returned to his comfortable home. Charlie, too, objected to the tree trunk, so we left him to wait there while we took the horse on a little farther, our main object being to advance our camp as far as possible, but the trail now commenced to ascend the hill side in a kind of staircase, inaccessible for the horse. After some scrambling we retraced our steps and pitched our

camp on a gravel flat in the river bed ; then sending the horse back across the stream, we said good-bye to him and to Charlie, as they set off on their way home.

It was now nearly dark, so as Ben said the cook had given him a piece of pork all ready to be eaten, we went at our supper without delay. The pork did not seem very nice, but we did not think much of that, at the time— it was so much food to work on, which was the main point. We had, however, ample opportunity to reflect on that supper, for we were 204 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap. all nearly poisoned, and in a very ill condition for carrying our heavy packs next day. "We were glad when morning came, and swinging our heavy packs on our backs, we pushed up the steep mountain side, noticing on the way a great number of marmots. Then after an hour over fatioTiins^ moraine we crossed the glacier, and halted near the last vestige of vegetation to boil the kettle and have some bread and tea. After this we all felt a little more cheerful, but our ascent to the col over the snow- covered glacier was at a regular snail's pace.

It was just noon when we reached the summit of the pass and found ourselves in a world of snow.

The thermometer, in the shade, registered 60° Fahr., and the glare of the sunshine was but little mitigated by the smoke wdiich rolled up from the burniug forests.

Towards the Illecellewaet valley smoke rendered photography impossible, but the air was clearer towards the Dawson range. Our first thought was to look out for goats, so we descended the snow- slope to the southward with caution, and w^atched the grass slopes for some sign. On the snow below us were some objects which, at first sight, we thought to be stones, but as we drew nearer we discovered that they Avere eight fine goats, lying on the snow. We threw the packs off our shoulders at once, and crouching amongst some stones discussed who was to have the shooting. We were all anxious for the fray, but as Ben ;

XV.] LOST OPPOETUNITIES. 205 had carried the Martini and ammimition all the morning, I said he had best right to the sport, so off he started. H. and I sat on a crag watching for the result. Ben first ran quickly down the snow, and then getting amongst some rocks, crept cautiously to within about 200 yards or less of the game ; nearer

than that there was no cover whatever. Puff ! went the little cloud of smoke, and we saw the ball plough up the snow about six inches over the back of one of the goats. We grew excited—puff ! again the elevation was too great. Now the goat stood up, and the next ball knocked up the snow between his legs. We were getting frantic but dare not stir. It was evident that Ben, well used to his own Winchester, could not manage our rifle at all.

The goats were now all standing and seemed quite puzzled at the disturbance. We hoped the next shot

might do for one ; but no ! The effect was a general

stampede. Crack ! crack ! seven shots, and they were all out of sight round the buttress of the mountain.

Ben attempted to follow but quickly returned to us rather crestfallen. I am proud to say we succeeded in keeping our tempers, and fumed only inwardly. We were just thinking of resuming our journey when, high up on some rocks at the opposite side of the glen we were in, we saw a goat making his way upwards, and stopping every now and then to have a look around. H. said he would 20 after him 206 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

SO taking the rifle, he descended to the snow slope,

and crossing it, gained the rocky cHffs opposite, and

though he could not now see the goat we could,

so we directed his course by pointing. The goat now

got on to an overhanging cornice of snow, and it

was most ludicrous to see H. peering about to try and get a sight of his quarry, and the goat craning

out his neck to see where H. was, but keeping care-

fully out of sight himself

Then H. from below the cornice, caught sight of

the top of the goat's head and horns at a distance

of about 200 yards. He fired a most hopeless shot which awakened a thousand echoes, and the goat turned round and strolled away to a higher point.

After a desperate climb H. got on to the snow cornice, and we could see the goat a few hundred yards ahead, anxiously awaiting his approach. H. caught sight of him, up went the rifle, but the goat depressed its head at the same instant, and walked along the face of some inaccessible-looking rocks as though he had been on a well-made road. We saw that this kind of a hunt promised very little result and tried to signal to

H. to come back. But no ! on he went, so when I had completed a sketch, Ben and I shouldered our packs and descended to the grass slopes to look for a camping ground.

It was no easy matter to find one. We needed but a very small patch of level ground for a sleeping place, but 'Taking the rifle, lie descended to the snow-slope."— P. 200.

XV.] THE GEIKIE GLACIER. 207

nothing of the sort existed, and the further we descended

the steeper it got. The mountain was so planed down

by snow-slides in the spring, that everything like a knob,

or hollow, or level was completely rounded off. We

dared not set down a pack without securing it with

an ice-axe ; even the smallest object showed a tendency

to start off and tumble into the valley 2,000 feet below.

The Geikie glacier filling the bottom of the valley

presented the most wonderful appearance. I never before

saw a glacier so completely broken up into pinnacles

of ice by longitudinal and transverse crevasses cross-

ing each other. It presented the appearance of some

basaltic formation with the blocks pulled a short

distance asunder. A good deal of snow lay on its

upper portion, and shoAved us what difficulties we must have encountered, had we continued our descent

by it from the great Illecellewaet snow-field. The light

was very good, and though a little smoke had drifted

over the mountains into the valley, I succeeded in

getting a very good half-plate negative of the glacier,

with Mount Fox beyond. An hour had gone by since

we had seen the last of H. and the goat, and as the climbing he had undertaken was as bad as any man need desire, we began to grow anxious. As we were

also hungry we took advantage of a little dwarf scrub

to collect materials for a fire, and with flour and Brand's Extract of Meat we concocted thick soup and enjoyed an invigorating meal. Two hours had now gone by 208 AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS. [chap.

and yet no sign of H. ; dreading an accident

we strolled upwards and soon were delighted to see

him a long way up the mountain side, but descending

towards us with his pack, to regain which he had had to

make a long detour. He had got into the most break-

neck precipices after the goat, but fired only two

fruitless shots. Ben now took the rifle, and went off

to seek better luck in the opposite direction, with onl}'-